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SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



BY 



Successful Farmers 



including 



NATURE STUDY 



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Complete Instructions for Using 
CHAUTAUQUA INDUSTRIAL ART DESK. 






EDITED AND COMPILED 



MILLER PURVIS. 



POWERS, HIGLEY & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS, 

CHICAGO 



7124 

Literary of Congress 

Twt Copies Received 
JUN 16 1900 

Copyright entry 



Hi 

FIRST COPY. 

2nd Ctpy O^ivwtd to 

ORDER DIVISION 



COPYRIGHT 1900 

BY 

POWERS, HIGLEY & COMPANY 



• « * . * . 



• • •■ 



o 









ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. 

Wherever in this little volume I have drawn for mate- 
rial on the experience of others it has been my purpose to 
make full acknowledgement, feeling that by so doing I was 
adding to the value of the work I had in hand, being glad 
to give credit to those whose patient investigation has 
added to the sum of the world's knowledge. Because of 
this I desire to hereby and in a more conspicuous manner 
give credit to those who have by direct effort, and the 
more indirect but not less effective labor of teaching me 
the great principles that underlie the science and art of 
farming, made it possible for me to compile the material 
with which I have had to deal. 

To Prof. Wm. P. Brooks, of Amherst; Prof. L. H. 
Bailey, of Cornell; Prof. Eugene Davenport, of the Illi- 
nois College of Agriculture; Prof. C. S. Plumb, of Purdue; 
Dr. S. Peacock, the well-known expert in agricultural 
chemistry; Mr. Charles W. Furlong, of Cornell; Prof. C..F. 
Curtiss, of Iowa Agricultural College; Col. F. J. Berry, 
the horseman, who best understands the needs of farmers 
in that direction; Mr. B. von Herff, of the German Kali 
Works, I desire to make special acknowledgement for 
favors received. These and many more have helped me 
over a good many of the hard places which the busy 
farmer who undertakes the unwonted task of bookmaking 
finds. M. P. 

Chicago, May I, 1900. 

3 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE* 

"Agriculture is the most useful and the most noble employment 
of man." — George Washington. 

There was a time when the farmer — the man who tilled 
the soil — was considered a part of the soil and a part of 
the property of the owner of the land he tilled. From 
that time to this ; when the farmer is the equal in every 
way with any other class of people, there has been a 
gradual improvement in the condition of the farmer, until 
today, estimated from any standpoint, the American 
farmer is the controlling element in our civilization, He 
makes secure the present and holds the destiny of the 
-future. 

It is to the glory of America that here the farmer first 
experienced complete emancipation and was first recog- 
nized as the most important factor to be considered in 
estimating the wealth and power of a nation. 

When on the green field of Lexington a little band of 
embattled farmers "fired the shot heard 'round the world" 
and struck the first blow for liberty and perfect freedom, 
the day of the farmer dawned brilliantly. When Wash- 
ington, after having refused imperial honors, gladly laid 
down the glory that attaches to the highest office in the 
gift of any people and went back to his farm, he set an 
example for every American. 

No country on earth owes so much of its greatness to 
the tiller of the soil as does this American country. 



6 author's preface. 

Agriculture has been the source of our unlimited wealth 
and phenomenal material progress, and notwithstanding 
the vast strides made by the inventive genius of our 
countrymen, notwithstanding a gain in manufacturing re- 
sources that has caused the world to stand in amazement, 
watching the young giant of nations reaching out to con 
quer new worlds of industrial enterprise, the farmers of 
this country have ever stood far ahead in the value of 
their productions and in the surplus that has been sold to 
other nations. Of allthe mighty export business of this 
country agricultural products furnish more than 70 per 
cent, leaving the manufacturers but 30 per cent to their 
credit. 

If it is true, as statesmen declare, that "the nation that 
feeds the world rules the world," then high indeed is the 
place of this nation and in the highest place stands the 
American farmer. 

It is true that not many years ago it seemed as if the 
tide had set toward the cities, and that farming was going 
out of fashion to a certain extent. Now all that is changed. 
Cities are growing, to be sure, but their growth is largely 
the result of additions from other countries. The Ameri- 
cans of the cities are looking longingly back toward the 
homes of their fathers; they are flocking in crowds to the 
country. All about the great cities are growing up sub- 
urbs where the inhabitants may have a garden and a home 
beyond the crash and din of the crowded city. 

With improvement in machinery, better postal facili- 
ties and a higher education possible for the children of 



AUTHOR S PREFACE. 7 

the country, has come a new era in the farm life. Instead 
of the farmer boy seeking a place in the city, he studies 
the fields and stays on the farm to live a life free from 
the sights and sounds that offend where thousands are 
crowded together; a life under the blue skies, where the 
harshest sound is the song of birds, and his worst neigh- 
bor a man he would trust to the utmost. 

Other things being equal that man succeeds best who 
has had the most experience. By taking example from 
the experience of others, the young may succeed as well 
as the old. This being true the prejudice against " book 
farming" is rapidly disappearing, because, as one farmer 
has said, " experience is none the less valuable because I 
find it in a book or paper. " 

' The need of a work on agriculture, presenting the sub- 
ject in so plain and practical a manner that it may be 
easily understood and readily applied, has long been felt. 
This work has been prepared with this in view. It has 
been written by a farmer in the intervals of actual farm 
work, sometimes a paragraph, and rarely a page being 
written between the performance of the duties that fall to 
every farmer who practices diversified farming. 

Theories are good only when actual practice proves 
them to be good. In this work we have had no time to 
devote to theorizing. By far the larger part of it is de- 
voted to what has been learned in actual practice in a life 
spent on a farm. Where we have deviated from this 
rule we have only done so to avail ourselves of the expe- 



8 author's PREFACE. 

rience of those with whom we have a personal acquaint- 
ance and whose line of work has enabled them to take up 
things that did not fall to us. 

From the art of agriculture has grown up the science 
of agriculture and the farmer no longer fears to face 
scientific facts. 

He knows that he must call to his aid the results of 
the labors of scientific men in many things. From such 
labors he has better varieties of seeds, better breeds of 
live stock, better machinery, and better homes, and the 
modern farmer follows scientific farming because he 
avails himself of all the aids and helps that have proven 
of value. 

Knowing the needs of those who follow the profession 
of farming, we have tried to make this work such a one 
as will help over some of the hard places. It has been 
said that "he who makes two blades of grass grow where 
one grew before is a benefactor to mankind. " If this 
little book shall help any one to increase his crops, im- 
prove his stock, or lead to better methods in any way, its 
purpose will have been accomplished. 

The Author. 



PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. 

In deciding to present to the farmers of our country 
in connection with " Chautauqua^ a new work upon agri- 
culture, we were impressed with the supreme importance 
of selecting as author some man thoroughly familiar with 
all recent investigations and discoveries in this field. We 
realized that the man best fitted for this purpose is not a 
theorist, but a practical farmer, who, through long expe- 
rience in testing new ideas, has been able to prove them 
before adoption. 

Any one acquainted with Miller Purvis will quickly 
agree that we were most fortunate in being able to enlist 
his services. He is full of enthusiasm over the possibili- 
ties for the American farmer, because he appreciates in 
the fullest measure how great is his future if he is alive 
to his opportunities. His thorough methods and his 
marked success as a farmer attracted attention. He was 
soon chosen editor of a leading agricultural paper. He 
devoted himself to this work for a period of ten years, 
during all of which time he kept in closest touch with actual 
farm life. At the end of this time he preferred to resume 
active work upon the farm, in which he has been engaged 
for several years. 

Our wonderful success in agriculture has stimulated 
inquiry and investigation to learn how farming may be 
made more productive. Our government has established 
an agricultural department, state governments have 



10 PUBLISHERS 1 ANNOUNCEMENT. 

founded agricultural schools and experiment stations, 
where special methods of agriculture are investigated and 
the principles of agriculture taught. A multitude of in- 
dependent investigators are hard at work in the same line. 
By this means, a mass of information has accumulated 
and many conclusions of great value reached. 

Our author's intimate acquaintance with many success- 
ful agriculturalists and the close touch in which he has 
kept with all investigations has enabled him to gather and 
put into usable form the most valuable results and deduc 
tions from all sources. He has taken into account that 
what the farmer wants to know is not somebody's theory 
of how things ought to be done, but how they actually 
are being done with the best results. It has been his pur- 
pose to make " Successful Farming by Successful Farm- 
ers " the Standard Ready Reference Book for the farmer, 
to which he can turn for the latest and best information 
upon any subject, with the same assurance of its accuracy 
as the student turns to his book of history. He has 
borne in mind that the farmer, like men in all other walks 
of life, is a laborer for profit and is anxious first of all to 
increase his credit balance; that he is interested to know 
by what means he can produce more and better corn, 
wheat, hay, oats, fruit and berries; how he can raise a 
larger number and better quality of horses, hogs, sheep, 
cattle and poultry; how his land can be made each year 
to produce more and yet each year leave it more pro- 
ductive. 

Recent investigation has taught us how to maintain 






PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. II 

and even to increase the natural fertility of the soil while 
at the same time making it produce the greatest possible 
returns from effort and expenditure. We have learned 
how to restore fertility to exhausted land and to supply 
the elements lacking in unproductive soils. We have 
learned how by special methods — the silo, green crops, 
etc., — a certain tract of land can be made to support a 
larger stock and support it better. We have discovered 
how by careful processes of selections and breeding, the 
products of the dairy can be greatly improved and in- 
creased. No practical farmer can fail to appreciate that 
the information collected in this priceless work, if used, 
will mean to him an increase each year of hundreds of 
dollars. 

While our author has sought to treat from a stand- 
point of experience all subjects of special importance to 
the farmer he has not neglected the farmer's children. 
In a simple, plain and interesting matter the chapter on 
11 Nature Study" enters into a discussion of the growth 
and development of plant and animal life, thereby 
creating an interest in the child-mind in the beauties and 
marvels of the world about him. Nature, where she is 
least disturbed — where tree and forest, valley and hillside, 
rivulet and the great waters stand as God has builded 
them — is more majestic and beautiful and capable of 
teaching the heart lessons of greater worth and import 
than any work of man. It is to nature in all ages that the 
great have turned for inspiration. Rightly taught, the 
child will see alike in the roll of angered ocean, in the 



12 PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. 

majestic sweep of mountains and in the veins and petals 
of the tiniest leaf or flower, the record, both past and 
present, of a sublime energy and almighty power. 
Children ought to learn the wonders of open country. 

11 Nature Study " will help to make country life attrac- 
tive to the young by unlocking to them nature's treasures 
and putting into their hands the key to her matchless 
language. Open their eyes to half her beauty and they 
will fall in love with country life. 



"There's no reason why the farmer should not be the 
most thoughtful and intelligent in our land; he is sur- 
rounded by nature's laws, the foundation of all knowledge, 
has* time for reflection, and should be the leader in all 
questions, political and commercial. In view of the great 
responsibility resting on the farmer, it is time he should 
think for himself and be the leader for his country's pros- 
perity and for the welfare of mankind. " — Samuel W. Al- 
lerton, the most extensive farmer in Illinois. 



"Go to the country, where man lives close to nature's 
heart, study him as he meets there the problems of life, 
and you will find literature which is realistic in the best 
and truest sense. Men of the country are to our national 
life what the steel frame work is to the mighty stone or 
Wick structure, when the crises come which shake the 
''on to its foundation. It is the loyal hearts and clear 
brains of the country folk which save it from destruction. " 
— (Ian MacLaren), Rev. John Watson. 



"The life of a farmer has often been called a life of 
drudgery. There is no occupation that has a larger ratio 
of inspiriting labor to one whose tastes are in harmony 
.vith rural life. The weak points in American farming 
has been the lack of appreciation of the equipments nec- 
essary to a successful career. Too many men have been 
willing to be the thieves of the soil's resources that they 
might swell their bank accounts. To the young man or 
woman fairly educated there is no more promising field of 
enterprise/' — Colmaiis Rural World. 

13 



CHAPTER I. 
THE FARM AND THE FARMER. 

In a country as broad as ours and extending over as 
many degrees of latitude we find soils and climates 
adapted to every cultivated plant known to civilized man, 
from the fruits of the tropics to the hardiest variety of 
rye and oats. 

With all our vast extent of territory and our variety 
of climate we have every sort of soil from the rugged 
mountain side or the barren alkali plain to the inexhaus- 
tible soil of the lowlands along our rivers and water 
courses. 

This being true successful farming depends very much 
on the farmer. He must study his soil and climate as he 
would the pages of a book and learn to know what is re- 
quired to produce the largest crops of those things that 
are most adapted to his particular situation. 

That he may do this intelligently and with the greatest 
profit it is necessary that he be grounded in the elements 
of agricultural science. It is true that under favorable 
circumstances a man may succeed very fairly without 
knowing anything of scientific facts except as he has ob- 
served the ways and methods of others, but in a vast ma- 
jority of cases the man who has a trained intellect will 
make a better farmer, and farm to a better purpose than 
will his uneducated neighbor. 

The art of farming is based on scientific facts that 

15 



l6 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 






have been deduced from the experience of the ages. 
More than 2,000 years ago a Roman farmer wrote' down 
his observation of the effects of plowing under a heavy 
growth of weeds. He noticed that where the weeds were 
plowed under the crop was best. Another farmer noticed 
that wherever a pile of trash, such as manure or rubbish 
of any kind was worked into the soil the crop was in- 
creased and continued observation proved that this plow- 
ing under of green crops or manure invariably resulted in 
an increase of crops. 

From such beginnings came the study of fertilizers 
until now we plow under green crops that we have sown 
with the purpose of using as green manures, and we spread 
over our land manures and various other fertilizers in 
order to increase our crops, assured that by so doing we 
shall be well repaid in the increased yield of our fields. 

In a work of this kind we cannot go into the particulars 
of the various theories that were put forward to account 
for the action of fertilizers on the soil. Farmers knew 
by experience that they were beneficial but why they 
were so they could not tell. 

In the middle ages chemistry began to attract atten- 
tion and as this science developed it was found that most 
of the operations of agriculture depend very largely on 
chemical changes in the soil in the production of crops 
and in the chemical transposition of food elements in the 
successful rearing of live stock. 

So it will be seen that the farmer who knows some- 
thing of the chemistry of soils, plants, feeds and fertil- 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. IJ 

izers will be best equipped to keep his land from dete- 
riorating on his hands, and when he can do this he has 
mastered the first great secret of successful farming. 
When he can produce maximum crops and at the same 
time maintain the productiveness of his soil he is on the 
high road to success. 

In order to know what to plant he should know some- 
thing of the nature and habits of all cultivated plants that 
are adapted to his climate, and he should know what 
weeds are injurious in order to be able to detect and ex- 
terminate them before they get a foothold. 

He should know something about insects in order to 
be able to detect and successfully combat those which are 
injurious to his crops and protect, where possible, those 
that are beneficial. 

The successful farmer will know something of the 
birds that live in his vicinity that he may distinguish be- 
tween those that help and those that hurt him 

He should know enough about civil engineering to be 
able to lay out and level a ditch in order that his farm 
may be properly drained, and he should understand the 
use of tools to the extent of being able to make small re- 
pairs without taking the time to go to the nearest town 
when work presses and time is precious. 

Let no man say these things are beyond his reach, for 
they are not. Any American farmer may know enough 
about all these things to carry his business to the most 
successful issue without large cost or great expenditure 
of time, Without a college education he may understand 



l8 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 






the fundamental principles of agriculture by studying the 
publications that are within his reach almost without 
money and without price. 

In a work of this kind we can only touch here and 
there on the lines that lead to the greatest success and 
indicate the lines of study that should occupy the farm- 
er's attention to the extent that he is able, in ihe intervals 
of his work, to give his time to them. 

Books treating on agricultural subjects are plentiful 
and cheap. Farm papers are published in almost every 
large city in the land and at a price that puts them within 
the reach of the poorest, and our national agricultural de- 
partment and the various state experiment stations pub- 
lish books and pamphlets almost without number which 
are given freely to all who ask for them. Aided by these 
any farmer who desires to make the greatest possible 
success can keep himself so well informed that no item 
that may be of benefit to him will escape his attention. 

The farmer of the future will be a man of wide learn- 
ing, studying nature from the teachings of the masters 
and from its manifestations in his own work on his farm. 
He will rank among the highest in the land and his pro- 
fession will have reached the eminence foreseen by Jef- 
ferson when he said: "Let farmers forevermore be hon- 
ored in their calling for they are the chosen people of 
God. The soil is the heritage of the people, its prom- 
ises limitless developments and happiest relief to crowd- 
ing populations, homes, thrift and industry, when we re- 
flect that the soil and its products are the true source of 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. Ig 

all riches, comfort and luxury. I am not among those 
who fear the people; they, and not the rich, are our de- 
pendence for continued freedom.'' 



CHAPTER II. 
THE PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 

Good crops cannot be grown without proper prepara- 
tion of the soil. To accomplish this it is necessary to 
have good tools if we would save time and effort. 

Without doubt the original implement used in the 
preparation of the soil was a stick with a sharp end. At 
first this was used and thrown away. Later it was dis- 
covered that a stick burned sharp was more durable and still 

later some genius of 
prehistoric times dis- 
covered that he could 
do better work by using 
a hooked stick and 
dragging the sharp end 
of the hook through 
the soil than he could 
by prodding it with a 
straight stick. Gradu- 
ally this hooked stick 
was made heavier until 
Japanese spade. at last it required one 

man to drag it and another to guide it and the 
plow was in use, although it was a very primitive imple- 
plement. To enable the one who held the plow to man- 
age it to better advantage a handle was devised and then 




£Y SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 21 

the end of the hook that entered the soil was shod with 
iron and probably about this time some domestic animal 
was hitched to the plow, and there invention stopped for 
thousands of years. 

Even at this late day there may be found in common 
use every modification of the plow from the sharpened 
stick up to the gang plow operated by steam. The lower 
in the scale of humanity the more primitive the plow. In 

India and other ori- 
ental countries may 
be found the hooked 
stick or a modifica- 
tion of it still in use, 
and as we examine 

the implements of 
Japanese plow ■ nations we fi nd p i ows 

in greater perfection until we find in our own country the 
most perfect ones ever made. 

From the old unwieldly wooden plow that was in use 
in Europe in the time of Roman domination to the steam 
gang plow of today there is a wide distance, but up to 
the time within the memory of men still living plows 
with wooden mouldboards were still in use in this country, 
and the writer remembers to have seen one that had been 
used on a farm in the vicinity of his birth place by an old 
man who was one of his neighbors. 

Thus it will be seen that the plow has been brought to 
its present state of perfection within the present century, 
and it is perfectly safe to say that the rapid development 




22 successful Farming 

of our country has been largely due to the improvements 
that have been made in the plow within the last one hun- 
dred years. 

With the plows in use up to the beginning of the 
nineteenth century it was not possible to prepare the land 
in the best manner, and this not only prevented the pro- 
duction of the best crops when the land was first subdued 
and put into cultivation, but it allowed the original fer- 
tility to be wasted and exhausted very much sooner than 
it would under proper cultivation. 

There is no danger except in limited sections, of plow- 
ing too deeply for the best interests of almost any crop. 
The deeper the plow runs the more chance for the roots 
of the crop to penetrate and spread out in search of proper 
food. 

Land should not be plowed when it is wet enough so 
as to stick together and bake. The object sought in 
plowing is to so loosen the soil that its particles will fall 
apart and thus open it up and make available the plant 
food it contains. If plowed too wet it will bake and the 
plant food is sealed up in such a manner that the roots of 
the crop plants cannot secure it and the crop falls short. 

If land is plowed when it is very dry it may turn up 
in a very lumpy condition, but the action of the sun and 
air, together with the solvent effect of the rainfall will 
soon reduce it to a condition that will make it suitable for 
the production of crops, but as a rule, land should be 
plowed when it is moist enough that it will not plow up 
in lumps, but not so wet that it will stick together and bake. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 23 

In every case it is better to harrow land as soon as 
possible after it is plowed. Many good farmers make it 
a rule to plow a part of the day and harrow what has been 
plowed the same day, and this is a very good rule. 
Freshly plowed land lies so loosely that the action of the 
sun and air evaporates the moisture in it until often there 
is not enough remaining to start the crops into as vigor- 
ous growth as is desirable. Besides land that is freshly 
plowed is more easily reduced to the proper tilth than it 
would be if allowed to dry for one or more days. 

The harrowing should be thoroughly done so as to 
reduce the land to the finest possible condition. The ex- 
pression " as loose as ashes" aptly expresses the proper 
condition of land for planting, and even if it requires con- 
siderable labor to bring this about it should be ungrudg- 
ingly given. The old man who told his son to ".harrow 
the land twice as much as it needed and then go over it 
again" had the proper conception of the perfect prepa- 
ration of the land. 

In these days of invention we have harrows of many 
kinds, adapted to every kind and condition of soil. 
Usually but two are necessary, the disc harrow and the 
spike harrow. If the disc harrow is used to level down 
the furrows and grind the soil fine a smoothing harrow 
with ordinary spike teeth will usually finish the work and 
leave the field in good condition for planting. If it is 
still uneven the plank drag or "float" maybe used to 
advantage. 



24 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Where the land breaks up dry and lumpy the best way 
to reduce it to the proper tilth is to use a land roller, disc 
and spike harrow in succession, but the roller should 
never be used unless the land is very dry or contains so 
much sand that it needs compressing. Many a field has 
been spoiled for the crop that was planted in it by being 
rolled when it was too wet or just before a rain, which 
caused the surface to pack and bake until it was impos- 
sible for the seed to send a shoot through the crust. 

For spring crops, such as corn, potatoes, etc., it is best 
to plow the land as early as possible to do so. After 
plowing the harrow should be run over it once and after 
that once a week until time to put in the crop. This gives 
the weed seeds in the soil a chance to germinate and the 
the weekly harrowing kills the resulting plants and makes 
the after cultivation much easier in every way. 

There is much diversity of opinion as to whether land 
for spring crops should be plowed in the fall or spring. 
Where the working force is small and the acreage com- 
paratively large it is probably best to plow in the fall. 
Another advantage of fall plowing is that the effect of 
frost on the plowed land is to reduce it to complete fine- 
ness and release the plant food so that it becomes avail- 
able for the use of the crops as soon as growing weather 
comes in the spring. 

The opponents of fall plowing insist that the action of 
the frost releases more plant food than the average crop 
can use and that most of the surplus is lost to the land 
by being washed away by the early spring rains. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 25 

While extensive experiments have not definitely 
settled this matter, it is probable that where the soil is 
hard and intractable it is as well to plow in the fall, while 
where the soil is loose and loamy spring plowing is better 
for the owner of the land. As a matter of fact a good 
many intelligent farmers have abandoned fall plowing 
under the belief that if it is followed up for a series of 
years the fertility of the soil is depleted much more than 
it would have been if spring plowing had been the rule. 

No matter what crop is to be grown perfect and pains- 
taking preparation of the land is necessary to give it a 
good start, and in this, as in many other things, "well 
begun is half done." 



CHAPTER III. 
SOIL EXHAUSTION* 

This is a subject of vast importance to the farmer in 
every part of the world. Land without fertility is with- 
out value, and generally speaking the value of land de- 
pends on its available supply of plant food. To be sure 
this is only relatively true for very barren land entirely 
worthless for agricultural purposes may be so situated as 
to bring a high price. For instance, the sand barrens in 
the vicinity of Chicago sell for hundreds of dollars per 
acre because they are almost within the limits of a great 
and rapidly growing city. So too land near a railway 
will sell for more than equally fertile land remotely situ- 
ated. However, aside from artificial advantages, the fer- 
tility of the soil is the criterion by which we judge of the 
value of the land. 

Fertile land is that which naturally contains an ample 
supply of the elements that go to feed plants of the kind 
that have a commercial value, or land which may have 
been supplied by artificial means with this plant food. 

Sterile land is that which is deficient in one or more 
of the elements of plant food, either in its natural state 
or because of unwise or unskillful manipulation at the 
hands of the farmer. 

The prairies of the West are examples of land that 

originally contained the maximum amount of plant food, 

26 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. T] 

and the deserted farms of the east are examples of the 
sterility brought about by a bad system of treatment. 

Although we often speak of land as being inexhaus- 
tibly fertile there is no such thing. No land, no matter 
how fertile it may be, but can be exhausted by improper 
use in the production of crops. 

Nature, if left alone, works to maintain fertility and 
build up exhausted soils, but this is a slow process and 
we cannot afford to allow land to lie idle while the slow 
processes of nature are working to build it up and restore 
it to its original state of fertility. 

It may be laid down as a proposition that cannot be 
successfully contradicted that land originally fertile may 
be maintained in that state by a proper system of farm- 
ing; that sterile land may be improved and gradually 
brought to a high state of fertility by using it in the 
proper way as to growing crops and furnishing plant food. 

Let us examine briefly some of the things that have 
caused the exhaustion of soil in various countries, this 
process going so far in some places that the ^owners of 
the land have deserted it, hopeless of ever being able to 
restore it to a condition that will make its cultivation 
profitable. 

In some of the countries of Europe, notably Italy, and 
in the Eastern States of our own country, the destruction 
of the forests has been one of the causes of soil exhaus- 
tion. The forests that covered the hills have been cut 
away until the soil on the high lands left without protec- 
tion, has been washed into the valleys and the hills have 



28 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



become bald and sterile deserts. With the destruction of 
the forests came a smaller rainfall and the soil lost the 
solvent effect of rain-water, the streams dried up and the 
processes of elaborating plant food from the soil ceased" 
to a great extent, giving the constantly decreasing crops 
less to feed on, until finally the land became unprofitable 
and relapsed to nature, and this by slow degrees is again 
building it up, until perhaps future generations may again 
find a generous reward for their labors in the crops yielded 
by lands that are now unproductive and worthless. 

In the West a different reason exists for the gradually 
diminishing crops to be observed wherever the land has 
been long in cultivation. On the broad prairies of the 
Western states the pioneer found a virgin soil fat with 
plant food and free from forest growth, lying ready for 
the plow and needing but the most careless cultivation to 
produce crops that were the talk of the world. 

The seemingly inexhaustible fertility of the soil made 
the pioneer prodigal of his resources and a spendthrift of 
the riches his soil contained. Year after year he grew 
corn or wheat, selling the grain and burning the straw or 
stalks, confident that he could pursue this course for an 
indefinite period without exhausting the soil of his lands. 

Even at this time such a system or lack of system of 
farming prevails in the newer sections while those which 
have been in cultivation for forty or more years are con- 
stantly decreasing in productiveness, unless measures 
have been taken to restore the fertility of the soil. 

Happily a generation has now come that better under- 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 2g 

stands the needs of the farms of this country and the 
story of reckless exhaustion of the soil will soon be told 
and our followers will look back in wonder at a time 
when such a system could prevail among thinking men. 

To exhaust the soil will soon be looked upon as some- 
thing to be ashamed of and the man who follows a system 
that will produce such a dire result will be looked down 
upon as one unfit for the high calling of the husbandman. 

Those who now own fertile lands are so working them 
that fertility will be maintained or increased and those to 
whose lot have fallen the lands that are more or less ex- 
hausted are building them up so as to restore them to 
their original condition or make them still better. How 
this is being done will be treated in subsequent chapters. 



CHAPTER IV. 

RESTORING FERTILITY. 

In treating of the best methods of restoring fertility, 
we are compelled to consider all kinds of soil from that 
which has merely become somewhat "run down" and in- 
capable of producing maximum crops to that which is 
absolutely barren. In a vast majority of cases the land 
of this country that has been in cultivation and has be- 
come unprofitable through careless or incompetent treat- 
ment, will still produce some kind of a crop, thus show- 
ing that it still holds some portion of the plant food it 
was originally supplied with. 

As a matter of fact most soils contain a considerable 
supply of plant food, but this is not available for the use 
of crops when the condition wecommonly call"run down" 
prevails. The plant food that is in the soil when the land 
is first brought into cultivation may be available, that is, 
ready for immediate use; or it may be unavailable or 
locked up in a chemical combination with something else 
that prevents the feeder roots of plants from making use 
of it. 

In virgin soil there is always more or less available 
plant food. Part of this comes from the breaking down 
of the chemical combinations of the soil through the 
action of the weather. Rainwater is a solvent to a certain 
degree of the combinations that hold potash and phos- 
phoric acid, and the percolation of the rainwater from the 






BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS, 31 

soil unlocks these sources of plant food. The sun warms 
the soil and sets to work certain ferments that work in the 
same direction and the frosts of winter by breaking down 
the soil and allowing air and water to get to the particles 
of plant food helps in the process of disintegration that is 
always going on during the growing season. Rainwater 
also contains nitrogen in the form of ammonia which is 
held by the soil ready to be transformed into plant food. 

The trouble with most of the run down land of the 
middle west, as well as other sections of the country, is 
that the crops use the plant food in the soil faster than the 
processes of nature make it available and unless efforts are 
mcde to maintain fertility, the available supply is used up 
sooner or later, and the land becomes unprofitable, while 
it may at the same time contain a large supply of plant 
food in an unavailable or inert form. 

Before we go into methods of restoring fertility, we 
must examine into the subject of fertilizers, for no system 
that does not include supplying the land with plant food 
will avail to restore lost fertility or make fertile, land that 
is originally barren. 

Any organic substance, such as weeds, straw, wastes of 
all kinds, even sawdust, will improve the condition of in- 
fertile soil if it is plowed into the land and allowed to de- 
cay, because these substances contain in themselves the 
plant food taken from the soil during the time they were 
growing. 

As previously explained we must supply nitrogen, pot- 
ash and phosphoric acid in some form to depleted soil in 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



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BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 33 

order to make it produce abundant crops after it has once 
lost the power to do this. It does not matter in what 
form these three elements are supplied they will make the 
soil fertile if it is possible to make its mechanical condi- 
tion such as to admit of plant growth. This mechanical 
condition is of importance. It would be useless to try to 
grow a crop on a pile of broken stones, because the spaces 
between the particles would be so large that water would 
escape at once, and water is one of the important ele- 
ments in making plant food available. Every particle of 
food a plant gets from the soil must be reduced to a com- 
bination with water, and the particles must be so every 
minute that they will enter the microscopic openings in 
the roots with the water that goes to make what we call 
the sap of plants. Given, then, a proper tilth or fineness 
of the soil, and soil in which this condition may be main- 
tained by cultivation during the growing season, and it is 
possible to produce a crop on soil that has been absolutely 
free from plant food. The only thing to do is to furnish 
the necessary elements and a supply of water and the 
crop will feed and grow, if properly treated as to prepara- 
tion, planting and cultivating. Happily there is no place 
in this country where a plow can be used that is quite so 
sterile as this, even what was once known as the "Great 
American Desert" being now the homes of a happy and 
prosperous people. 

When we speak of a "complete fertilizer" we mean one 
that contains some of each of the three elements, nitro- 
gen, potash and phosphoric acid. The quantity of each 



34 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

of these elements may not be large, or one or two of them 
may be present in very small quantities, but if each of 
the three is represented in the combination of the fertil- 
izer it is common to call it "complete." Any fertilizer 
that is prepared with a view to use on a single crop is 
called a "special fertilizer, " add these are often the most 
profitable ones a farmer can use on his land. 

Science has not yet reached the point where a quan- 
tity of soil can be analyzed and a rule given for the com- 
bination of plant foods that will be of most value made up 
to supply the deficiences. This is because chemical analy- 
sis does not differentiate between available and unavail- 
able plant food. It simply shows how much plant food 
is in the soil, but does not show the condition in which it 
exists. For instance, an analysis of a certain soil might 
show a plentiful supply of potash, but it would not show 
whether this potash was locked up in minute fragments 
of the original rock, or whether it has been so worked 
upon by the weather as to make it available for the imme- 
diate use of plants. 

Of the three principal elementary plant foods nitrogen 
is the most abundant in nature, the hardest to get, and 
the easiest to lose. Four-fifths of the air we breathe is 
nitrogen, but atmospheric nitrogen is not available for 
plant food until it has been changed into the form of a 
nitrate, and this must be done in the soil. So far as we 
know but one family of plants is capable of using the 
nitrogen in the air in their growth. The leguminous 
plants, or as they are sometimes called, the "pod family/' 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 35 

clovers, peas, beans, lupines, vetches, can gather nitrogen 
directly from the air, and use it in the process of growth. 
This makes this family of plants one of the most valuable 
we have. The chief sources of our supply of nitrogen 
are nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, dried blood, 
tankage, fish scrap, cotton seed meal, castor pomace and 
tobacco stems. 

This element is higher in price when we must buy it 
than either of the other two. It costs in the open mar- 
ket from 12 to 15 cents a pound. For instance, ioo 
pounds of nitrate of soda costs about $2.00. It contains 
15 or 16 pounds of nitrogen and no other plant food of 
any kind, so we must count the nitrogen as costing some- 
thing over 12^ cents a pound. Of all the sources of 
nitrogen named above nitrate of soda and sulphate of 
ammonia are the only two which contain the nitrogen in 
the proper form for immediate use by plants. The others 
contain nitrogen in the organic form which does not be- 
come available until by the process of decay in the soil it 
is changed to the proper form for assimilation by plants. 
Nitrogen is easily lost from the soil by leaching or by 
evaporation if the ground is not covered by a growing 
crop. When a crop is on the ground the loss of nitrogen 
is so small that it cannot be computed. 

Phosphoric acid is obtained from bones, bone black, 
bone ash, phosphate rock and peruvian guano. The 
principal source of the phosphoric acid used in this coun- 
try is the phosphate rocks that are found in Florida, 
South Carolina and Tennessee. The supply of bones in 



36 -SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

this country is entirely too small to furnish enough of this 
element for fertilizing purposes, and the phosphatic rocks 
are found abundantly in the three states named. Where- 
ever phosphoric acid is found, whether in bones or rocks 
or guano, it is always the same, and one kind is as valu- 
able as another. In the raw bones it is not available ex- 
cept as the bone decays, and bone meal is best when 
ground very fine, as it then decays more rapidly. In the 
form of raw rock it only becomes available very slowly, 
and is not used in that form except in very few cases, 
when it is called "floats." The phosphate rock is ground 
into a powder and treated with sulphuric acid when it be- 
comes available for plant food. Phosphoric acid is avail- 
able in two forms, soluble when water dissolves it, and 
reverted when it has found a chemical combination in the 
soil which is insoluble in water, but is readily dissolved 
by the roots of plants. When phosphate rock is treated 
with sulphuric acid it is known as "superphosphate." 

Bone meal and dissolved bone are also valuable for 
the nitrogen they contain, this element being present in 
variable quantities as low as 2 per cent and as high as 
<\% per cent. 

Phosphoric acid is also found in several of the materi- 
als we use as sources of nitrogen. Tankage may contain 
as much as 14 per cent, and it is found in smaller quanti- 
ties in dried fish scrap, cotton seed meal, castor pomace 
and tobacco stems. 

Peruvian guano is rarely used in the middle west, and 
its use in all parts of this country has fallen off very 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 37 

much of late years. At one time it was the principal com- 
mercial fertilizer used, but we now have cheaper sources 
of supply, while the quality of the guano now obtainable 
is not as high as it was a few years ago. 

Potash is used on a good many farms in compounding 
commercial fertilizers, and is often used alone to supply a 
deficiency in the soil. No matter in what form potash is 
used it is equally available for plant food, and equally 
valuable, except in some cases there is an excess of 
sodium chloride or common salt in combination with the 
potash, this acting as a stimulant on a good many soils. 
On certain crops, such as sugar beets, potatoes and to- 
bacco, muriate of potash, kainit and sylvinit should not 
be used because of the large amount of salt they contain. 
Neither should they be used immediately before planting, 
as the salt is likely to injure the tender roots of the newly 
sprouted seed. 

A good many experiments that have been made in 
nearly every state in the Union indicate that the average 
commercial fertilizer might be improved by the use of a 
larger quantity of potash. The chapter on "Potash in 
Agriculture" treats this subject so fully that we shall not 
take further space with it here. The table on page 38 
shows the percentage of the various fertilizer ingredients 
in the common sources of plant food. In estimating the 
value of these materials it should be borne in mind that 
no matter how much total phosphoric acid there is in any 
material it is only that which is available that is worth 
anything to the farmer for immediate results. 



38 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 





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BY SUCCFSSFUL FARMERS. 39 

Besides the sources of plant food which we have been 
discussing, we have stable manure and green manuring to 
use in restoring fertility. Stable manure is a complete 
fertilizer, but varies through a wide range in its constitu- 
ent parts. If it has been kept from heating and leaching 
it may contain as much as 15 pounds of nitrogen, and as 
little as 8 pounds to the ton. The contents of phosphoric 
acid may vary from 4 to 8 pounds and of potash from 8 
to 15 pounds. The value of stable manure also depends 
on the kind of feed from which it is made and the kind of 
stock, so it is impossble to give an analysis that is at all 
definite, so many factors may be considered. We know 
this that it is almost impossible to put too much barnyard 
manure on run down land. It helps such land in a way 
that is impossible with commercial fertilizers. As it is 
composed of straw and litter with the coarser parts of the 
manure it helps to make the land light and looser, and 
easier to get into proper condition for plant growth. This 
coarse part in the process of decay furnishes a supply of 
humas which is of no particular value as a plant food, but 
is very valuable in its effect on the soil. It improves the 
mechanical condition, thus making it lighter so sun and 
air can enter, and at the same time its spongy nature en- 
ables it to hold moisture much better than is the case 
when the soil has been depleted of humas. 

Green manuring consists in sowing crops with the ex- 
press purpose of plowing them under so as to add to the 
fertility of the soil and improve its mechanical condition. 

Any green crop plowed into the soil will improve its 



40 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

texture or mechanical condition and make it a better seed 
bed, but only a few crops really add anything to the store 
of plant food in the soil. Most crops merely return to 
the soil what they have taken from it, if they are plowed 
under. This is not the case with the clover family. A 
crop of clover, cow peas, soy beans or any other legume 
plowed into the soil returns not only the plant food it has 
extracted from the soil, but in addition a goodly portion 
of the nitrogen, that is so costly, which it has gathered 
from the air. 

Soil that has been badly run down very often fails to 
produce a crop of clover. In common parlance the clover 
will not "catch" or the land is " clover sick." In such a 
case a light dressing of barnyard manure will generally 
start the clover, and if to the manure is added a light ap- 
plication of potash and phosphoric acid in some form the 
crop is almost sure to be a good one and the way is clear 
to restore the soil to fertility. 

In restoring run down land all the crops grown on it 
should be fed on the farm and the manure returned to the 
land, or if any of the crops are of such nature that they 
cannot be fed on the farm enough feed stuffs of some 
kind should be bought to make up for the loss. By using 
potash and phosphoric acid and plowing under clover or 
other legumes, it is possible to rapidly restore land that 
has lost its fertility without a great outlay of money. If 
the crops are fed on the farm, it is a common experience 
that a run down farm will pay for its own rejuvenation 
while the work is going on. 

Dairying is one of the best industries that can be fol- 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



4i 



lowed on run down land, for in feeding cows it is possi- 
ble to put to profitable use considerable quantities of bran 
and oil-meal, both of which make a profitable feed for 
dairy cows and the manure from them is very rich in 
plant food. 

Most of the run down farms of the country are defi- 
cient in humus and every effort should be made to work 
into the soil the largest possible quantity of coarse stuff 
in the way of green crops. 

In using commercial fertilizers no man can know what 
is best for his land until he has tried it. It is a good plan 
to try the different ones on small plots first, and note the 
effect on the crop. 

The following illustration will give the reader an ex- 
ample of an experimental field divided into plots for the 
purpose of conducting fertilizer tests upon the crops: 




No Fertilizer. 


K 
Potash. 


P 

Phosphoric 
Acid. 


N 
Nitrogen. 



KP 

Potash and 

Phosphoric 

Acid. 



KN 

Potash and 
Nitrogen. 



PN 

Phosphoric 

Acid 

and Nitrogen. 



KPN 

Potash 

Phosphoric 

Acid 

and Nitrogen. 



The plot marked O receives no fertilizer. The plot 
marked K is treated with potash alone. The next one 



42 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

marked P receives only phosphoric acid. The plot 
marked K P is treated with a combination of potash and 
phosphoric acid, while the plot marked K N has a com- 
bination of potash and nitrogen. The plot marked P N 
receives phosphoric acid and nitrogen, but no potash. 
The plot KPN has a full complement of all three ingre- 
dients, potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen. 

This is a very simple and practical way of making a 
few experiments with fertilizers. Of course, when quan- 
tities of various fertilizing materials to be used are to be 
studied, a greater number of experimental plots must be 
divided off. The average farmer cannot afford the time, 
money and labor necessary to make fertilizer tests of soils 
and crops on an extended scale. In fact, one of the 
pressing needs of our farmers is, that such tests shall be 
made for them and thus give them the results, showing 
the exact kinds and amounts of fertilizers that may be 
most economically used on their crops." — Pri?iciples of 
Profitable Agriculture. 

Herewith we append a table showing the amount of 
the principal elements of plant food removed from the 
soil by some commonly grown crops. It will be found of 
interest, and he who is trying to restore the fertility to 
run down land will find much information in it. By giv- 
ing careful study he can soon determine what plant food 
he needs and how much he must have to produce good 
crops. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



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44 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



The man who maintains the fertility of his soil is a 
good farmer. He who takes run down land and restores 
it to a state of high productiveness has mastered the 
science of agriculture, and stands at the head of his 
profession. 




CHAPTER V. 
MAINTAINING FERTILITY. 

The highest manifestation of the art of farming and 
application of the scientific processes allied thereto is to 
so conduct the operation involved as to maintain to the 
highest degree the fertility of the soil. 

It requires but a moment's reflection to be convinced 
that every crop, no matter how small it may be, takes 
something away from the soil. Unless that which has 
been taken away is replaced or returned in some way the 
soil is depleted of plant food just to the extent the crop 
has used up the elements that go to make its growth, so 
far as they come from the soil. 

Nine-tenths of every plant that grows comes originally 
from the air in the shape of water, carbon, nitrogen, etc. 
The other tenth comes from the soil in the shape of pot- 
ash, phosphoric acid, calcium (lime), sulphur, etc. 

If we burn any plant the ashes represent every particle 
of the plant that came originally from the soil. The re- 
mainder, the much larger part that disappears when it is 
reduced to ashes by the action of fire, came from the air 
during the period of growth. 

If this is true, it may be asked: "Why is it so abso- 
lutely necessary that the soil should be fertile to produce 
a good crop ? Why cannot we expect a fairly good 
crop on sterile land, if nine-tenths of the bulk of the 
crop comes from the air?" 

This seems a reasonable question until we examine 

45 



46 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

into the facts connected with the phenomena of plant 
growth and learn that unless the crop can get through its 
roots a sufficient supply of every one of the elements of 
growth, if a single one is not present in sufficient quan- 
tities for the needs of a large crop, the presence of all the 
others does not make up for the deficiency, and the size 
of the crop is reduced just in proportion as the one ele- 
ment is lacking. We need not worry about any of these 
elements of plant food, as a rule, except three, nitrogen, 
potash, and phosphoric acid. Usually any soil contains 
enough of lime, sulphur, etc., to supply the needs of the 
largest crop. Occasionally in certain localities there is a 
deficiency of lime, but this is never the case where the 
water of the wells is "hard." Where the wells supply 
soft water lime is lacking in the soil and should be sup- 
plied. 

Of the three principal elements nitrogen comes origi- 
nally from, the air, but only a few plants have the capacity 
to obtain a supply from this source and none of them can 
obtain all that is needed in this way. Before nitrogen can 
be used by plants as a food it must be changed into the 
form of a nitrate and this can only be done after it enters 
the soil, except to a limited extent in the case of the 
leguminous plants, such as clover, peas, beans, vetches 
and others of the same family of plants. 

If then, the soil contains a sufficient quantity of nitro- 
gen, phosphoric acid and potash, it is capable of produc- 
ing maximum crops, but if either of these is lacking or 
is not present in sufficient quantities, the crop must nee- 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 47 

essarily fail to some extent, depending on the degree of 
deficiency in the element lacking. 

Because of these facts we do not consider how much 
the crop takes from the land of any element except the 
three above noted. This reduces the problem of main- 
taining the fertility of the land to keeping it supplied 
with nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid. 

Chemical analysis shows that the various crops grown 
on the farm require different quantities of the three prin- 
cipal elements of plant food in the production of a max- 
imum crop. By growing different crops we can draw 
upon all resources of the soil without exhausting one of 
them sooner than the other. 

If this rotation of crops is properly arranged we can 
delay soil exhaustion; but, nevertheless, the process goes 
on and no matter what the system of rotation, constant 
cropping without adequate returns to the soil will, in time, 
render it sterile and unproductive. 

Of the three principal elements of plant food nitrogen 
is the costliest, the price being when bought, about three 
times that of the other two. As a rule, it is also the first 
one to be exhausted, and when this happens, as has been 
explained previously, the other elements are powerless to 
produce a good crop. 

A system of rotation which has clover or other legu- 
minous plants as one of the series of crops, tends to re- 
tard the loss of nitrogen because this family is able to 
gather a portion of the supply needed for its growth 



48 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

directly from the air. Clover requires large quantities of 
potash and it cannot be relied on to maintain the fertility 
of the land indefinitely. Its value is undisputed but it 
has been overrated by those who have not studied the 
question of plant needs thoroughly. 

Clover, being a very deep-rooted plant, draws upon 
the stored fertility of the sub-soil at a depth never reached 
by those crops which have shallow roots. The immense 
root system of the clover plant penetrates the hard sub- 
soil and as the roots decay they leave this lower stratum 
in such condition that it is in better physical condition 
than it would be if any other plant had been used in place 
of the clover. Again, rotation of crops draws upon the 
soil at different depths. The clover plant goes deepest, 
and such crops as wheat and oats draw their sustenance 
from near the surface of the soil. By this means rotation 
draws upon the plant food at varying depths instead of 
one uniform depth, as would be the case if but one crop 
was grown year after year. 

It will be seen by what we have said that a soil ex- 
hausted by a system of rotation is exhausted in all its 
parts and is really in a worse condition than one that has 
been exhausted by growing a single crop continuously. 
Therefore, rotation of itself is not a method of main- 
taining fertility, but is rather a method of delaying ex- 
haustion only to make it more complete in the end. 

Nevertheless no system of farming that does not in- 
clude a system of rotation can be prosecuted with the 
greatest success, but — and mark this point well — with the 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



49 



rotation we must practice feeding on the farm the crops 
produced, and returning to the soil the manure of the 
animals fed. 

The farmer who sells only live stock, wool, butter, 
milk, eggs and fruit and carefully returns to the soil all 
the waste products of every kind will maintain the aver- 
age fertility of the soil for an indefinite period. These 
finished products do not take from the farm more than a 
small fraction of the fertility required to produce the 
crops on which the animals that are sold were fed. A 
glance at the accompanying chart will make this plain. 



MANURIAL VALUE OF FEED STUFFS. 

NITROGEN gS PHOSPHORIC ACID §||| POTASH f§§§| 

Cost, 12c 4^c 4^c per lb. 

POUNDS OF FERTILIZING PER TON. 
- After Feeding. 

21 6 2S„, 



Fertility Manurial 


Value. 


Value. 


Corn Stalks 


$4.05 $ 3.04 


Timothy Hay 


4.3i 


3-23 


Clover " 


7.26 


5-45 


Wheat Straw 


1.98 


1.49 


Corn 


5-3i 


3-98 


Barley 


477 


3.58 


Oats 


6.18 


4.63 


Wheat 


6.63 


4-97 


Wheat Bran 


10.41 


7.81 


Peas 


906 


6.80 


Linseed Meal-OP- 


1578 


11.84 


Cheese 


12.18 


9.13 


Butter 


.42 


.32 


Beef 


949 


7.12 




By examining this chart it will be seen that the fertil- 
ity value of a ton of corn stalks is $4.05; that is the plant 



50 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

food in a ton of corn stalks would cost $4.05 if we had to 
buy it. Feed this ton of corn stalks to any farm animal 
and the value of the manure — the animal waste — is $3.04. 

Let us figure a little. The fertility value of a ton of 
corn is $5.31. Thirty-six bushels of corn is almost exactly 
a ton, and if we sell this we remove from the farm plant 
food to that amount. Suppose we feed the corn to the 
cattle instead of selling it. To produce a ton of beef we 
must feed at least three tons of corn the fertility value 
of which is $15.93, but of this, according to the chart, we 
get back $11.94, leaving the actual fertility loss to the 
farm $3.99. We now sell the beef for more than the corn 
would have brought and in doing so we sell fertility value 
to the amount of $9.49, but which has cost us really only 
$3.99 in actual loss of fertility to the farm instead of 
$15.93, as would have been the case had we sold the corn 
instead of feeding it and selling it in the shape of beef. 
It will be noticed that the man who sells butter loses but 
42 cents worth of fertility in a ton, which shows that the 
making of butter costs but light in fertility loss to the 
farm. 

Prof. C. F. Curtiss, of the Iowa Agricultural College, 
says: " The man who sells $1,000 worth of wheat takes 
from his farm plant food worth $400.00." This may seem 
a high estimate to the man who never bought a dollar's 
worth of commercial fertilizer in his life, but that is what 
the nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid in $1,000 worth 
of wheat would cost if the farmer was compelled to buy 
it. It was in the soil and the crop takes it out. Unless 






BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 51 

it is replaced it will never get back and the capacity of 
the land is reduced just that much. This may not appear 
this year or next year, but any system of farming 
that involves the production of crops that are sold off the 
farms will in the end deplete it, and when that time comes 
the farmer or his successors will be compelled to buy this 
plant food in the open market, and possibly pay a higher 
price for it than it now commands. If, on the other hand, 
the farmer needs his grain on the farm and sells only fin- 
ished products $1,000 worth of beef, mutton or pork will 
not remove $50 worth of plant food from the soil. 

When a farmer ships grain the railroads charge him 
about half the price he gets for carrying it. The farmer 
in Wisconsin or Iowa who sends grain to market pays 
half it is worth to get it delivered, but $1,000 worth of 
wool can be sent to market from either of these states for 
not to exceed $75. 

No system of agriculture is so well calculated to main- 
tain fertility as that system known as mixed farming, when 
it is properly carried on. To sell all the products of the 
farm in a finished state should be the aim of every farmer. 
His grain, grass and hay should be sold as beef, pork, 
mutton, wool, milk, butter, eggs or poultry, because such 
a system takes less of the fertility of the soil away from 
the farm than any other system that has ever been de- 
vised. 

Where wheat or potatoes can be grown with profit and 
are one of the crops in a system of rotation the crop is 
usually sold, but where this is done the farmer should 



52 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

make it a rule to buy bran and oil meal or other feeds in 
sufficient quantity to restore to the farm the plant food 
taken away in the products sold. This can be done with 
economy, for either of these feeds are worth all they cost 
in feeding stock and the manure from a ton of wheat bran, 
as will be seen in the chart on page 49, is worth $7.81, and 
that from a ton of oil meal is worth $11.84. 

Various systems of rotation are followed, depending 
considerably on local conditions. A good five-year rota- 
tion is as follows: First year, corn; second, oats; third, 
wheat, seeded with clover; fourth, meadow; fifth, pasture. 
After pasturing one year the clover sod is turned under 
and the land planted to corn again. In this rotation the 
manure made on the farm may be used either as a top 
dressing for the wheat or hauled on the clover the spring 
before it is turned under for corn. This rotation gives an 
opportunity to always plant corn on sod, thus giving the 
corn the benefit of the decaying clover roots which are 
rich in plant food, and has the advantage that a clover 
field is usually very free from weeds. Land farmed in 
this rotation will maintain its fertility almost indefinitely. 

Where wheat cannot be grown a four-year rotation of 
corn, oats, clover and pasture is very beneficial and has 
the advantage of producing only crops that may be fed 
advantageously to farm animals and of getting the bene- 
fit of the restorative influences of clover at shorter 
periods. 

A three-year rotation of corn, wheat, clover and then 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 53 

corn again is only practicable where permanent pastures 
are profitable, as it does not allow for pasturing the clover 
the second year. 

T. B. Terry, the great farmer of Ohio, used for years 
a rotation of potatoes, wheat, clover, keeping no stock 
beyond one cow and his w T ork horses. His potatoes and 
wheat he sold and his clover he sold with the provision 
that it must be fed on his farm, he feeding the stock that 
ate the hay and keeping the manure for his trouble. This 
seemed to work well for several years, but selling two of 
the three crops off the farm finally began to tell on the 
fertility of the land and the system has been partially 
abandoned. 

For wheat rye may be substituted and for oats barley, 
and in some sections cow peas or soy beans must be sub- 
stituted for clover. 

The man who masters the theory of maintaining fer- 
tility will be able to readily adapt himself to his sur- 
roundings so as to make his system of rotation the one 
that is best suited to his land and environment. 

Briefly the whole system hinges on selling off the farm 
the least possible amount of plant food. This is the 
foundation of a perfect system of agriculture. 



CHAPTER VI. 
POTASH IN AGRICULTURE. 
Potash, as used in agriculture, is understood to mean 
the oxide of the metal potassium; Chemists designate it 
by the formula K 2 O. This potash (K 2 O) occurs com- 
mercially as the potash "concentrated lye" of the shops. 
While in this form potash is not used as plant food on 
count of high price, all tertiliezr potash is estimated as 
actual potash (K 2 O) for accurate comparison. For ex- 
ample, muriate of potash contains about 50 per cent 
actual potash, while kainit contains but 12% per cent; as 
plant food, one pound of muriate contains therefore as 
much potash as four pounds of kainit, and in actual farm 
work one pound of muriate will be found to supply to 
crops as much potash plant food as four pounds of kainit. 
This point is of importance to farmers, as they shouldbuy 
potash fertilizer by the actual potash it contains, rather 
than by the gross weight of the materia], 

FORMS OF POTASH FERTILIZER. 

Actual potash (K 2 0) exists naturally joined to an 
acid, making what chemists call a "salt." For example, mu- 
riate of potash is a salt composed of a combination of actual 
potash and muriate acid; sulphate of potash in like man- 
ner is a combination of actual potash and sulphuric 
acid. These "salts" are not always pure, as for 

example, kainit, which contains about one-fourth 

55 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 57 

fourth sulphate of potash and three-fourths other "salts" of 
little, if any, value as plant food. The most common forms 
of fertilizer potash are: Kainit, containing 12^ per cent 
actual potash; Muriate, containing 50 per cent actual pot- 
ash; Sulphate, containing 50 per cent actual potash; 
Sulphate of 'Potash- Magnesia, containing about 27 per cent 
potash. Wood ashes are useful as potash plant food, but 
they are very low grade, containing usually only about 5 
per cent actual potash, and sometimes as low as 2 per 
cent. 

POTASH AS PLANT FOOD. 

All farmers and planters now know that plant food is 
practically limited to three substances: Potash, Phos- 
phoric Acid and Nitrogen. Each of these three sub- 
stances are necessary to plant growth, but each has a 
special work to perform. Potash specially promotes the 
formation of starch and pulpy matter, also sugar and the 
flavor of fruits. Potash also specially favors the cell 
growth of plants, resulting in strengthening stems and 
stalks. It particularly influences the formation of the 
pulpy matter of fruits. Consequently an ample supply 
of potash is doubly important with all fruit crops or tuber- 
ous crops, such as potatoes, or sugar crops, sugar cane or 
sugar beets. High-grade tobacco also is specially influ- 
enced by potash, through the production of a light even- 
textured leaf. The mere marked indications of a soil 
lacking in potash are: checked or very low growth, with 
light green color of leaf, lack of flavor in fruits, low 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 59 

quality in potatoes, lodging of stalks or straw, or failure 
to mature blossoms. 

If a field of corn lodges badly, or makes a fairly even 
and natural growth, though small, or shows many short 
ears, or ears consisting of cobbs alone and no grain, pot- 
ash is surely lacking. In like manner lodging of wheat 
or oats, or a stunted growth and low yield of grain also 
means a shortage of potash. If potatoes show fair growth 
of tops (not a rank growth necessarily), but few tubers, 
or if the tubers are small or "soggy," potash is needed. 

If strawberries ripen irregularly, or develop unevenly, 
or if they lack color, flavor and size, potash is wanted. 
Sugar beets producing low percentages of sugar, also show 
the need of potash plant food. 

BEST FORM TO USE. 

This point is largely a matter of the crop or the way 
the fertilizer is applied. As a general rule, kainit or muri- 
ate of potash should not be used on tobacco and small 
fruits generally. The chlorine contained in kainit and 
muriate is commonly believed to be injurious to such 
crops. In a measure such injuries may be prevented by 
early applications of the fertilizer: that is, applied to the 
soil several weeks before the seeding or planting of the 
crop. There is no danger of any important loss of pot- 
ash fertilizer through washing or leaching; it is quickly 
fixed in the soil so that water does not carry it off, and at 
the same time plants can take it up readily. Where the 
fertilizer must be used practically at seeding time use 



6o 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 




Yield of Sweet Potatoes, Soil Unfertilized. 










Yield of Sweet Potatoes, Soil Fertilized with Nitrogen and Phosphoric Acid only, 
Showing Failure from Lack of Potash. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 6l 

sulphate of potash. Wood ashes should not be used on 
potatoes, as the scab is promoted by such fertilizing. 

HOW MUCH TO USE. 

This point is a matter ot considerable differences of 
opinion. The commercial fertilizer industry generally 
favors small amounts of potash as compared with phos- 
phoric acid, while the Agriculture Experiment Stations 
commonly advise relatively larger amounts of potash. 
The analyses of crops show that potash is actually taken 
up by them in rather larger amounts than is the case with 
phosphoric acid. In making such comparisons, we must 
take into consideration the whole crop. For example, 
with corn; the stalks are of little value, but the grain can- 
not be grown without the stalks. It is, therefore, as nec- 
essary to supply plant food for stalks, straw, etc., as for 
the salable products. For every one hundred pounds of 
phosphoric acid actually taken up by ordinary farm crops, 
potash is required as follows: 

Phos. Acid. Potash. 

Wheat ioo ibs. 129 lbs. 

Rye 100 '* 173 " 

Barley 100 " 181 '* 

Oats 100 " 282 " 

Corn 100 " 259 •' 

Potatoes 100 " 352 " 

Sugar Beets 100 " 443 " 

Timothy ico " 293 " 

Red Clover 100 " 343 " 

Crimson Clover 100 u 328 " 

Tobacco 100 " 448 " 

Cotton ico " in " 

Onions 100 " 643 " 



62 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 




Yield of Sweet Potatoes, Soil Fertilized with Potash, Nitrogen and Phosphoric 

Acid. (See text). 




Yield of Sweet Potatoes, Soil Treated with Large Quantities of Potash, Nitrogen 
and Phosphoric Acid. (See text). 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 63 

It is then clearly evident that if phosphoric acid is 
necessary for crops, potash is much more necessary — at 
least, so far as quantity is concerned. Phosphoric acid, 
however, is apt to take such forms in the soil that plants 
cannot make use of it, and to provide for such a condi- 
tion, the common practice is to use more phosphoric acid 
as compared to the potash, than the actual needs of the 
plant. As to the quantities to use for any given crop, it 
is evident that a crop must have at least as much as its 
chemical analysis shows it to contain. On another page 
will be found a table giving this information. For exam- 
ple, a yield of 200 bushels of potatoes per acre takes from 
that acre of land in tubers and vines, 21 pounds of phos- 
phoric acid and 74 pounds of actual potash. It is cer- 
tainly sure that no crop can absolutely " clean up" all the 
plant food applied, so that there must be some loss. 
Hence it is probable that about 100 pounds of actual pot- 
ash will be required ';o secure 74 pounds to the crop. In 
like manner the phosphoric acid must be increased and 
also allowance made for its taking unavailable forms in" 
the soil. Roughly, double the actual needs of phosphoric 
acid and add one-third the actual needs of potash; this 
will give approximately a fertilizer strong enough for a 
full crop. As it costs as much for land, labor, etc., for a 
half crop as for a full crop, it rarely pays to fertilize for a 
half crop. Stated in ordinary commercial fertilizer terms, 
the above plant food is contained in 1,000 pounds of a fer- 
tilizer containing not less than 10 per cent potash and 4 



64 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

per cent available phosphoric acid. On this same plan, 
the proper amounts of potash plant food may be esti- 
mated for other crops. 

POTASH AND CLOVER. 

.The practice of growing clover as a source of fertilizer 
nitrogen is becoming somewhat general. Potash has a 
very important bearing on this crop; in fact, the quantity 
of nitrogen stored up by clover depends somewhat 
directly upon the presence of ample supplies of potash 
fertilizers. Clover sickness is very commonly caused by 
a shortage of potash plant food. Farmers generally do 
not fertilize hay crops, but this is a mistake. Whether the 
clover is to be used as hay or green manure, a good crop 
is equally important. Every pound of actual potash 
stored up by a clover plant, gathers with it practically, a 
pound of fertilizer nitrogen from the air, almost free of 
cost. As the pound of potash costs the farmer about 5 
cents, and the pound of nitrogen would cost him about 
15 cents, if bought in the market, the economy of using 
potash is very plain — it returns 15 cents on an invest- 
ment of 5 cents and further the potash comes back for 
use on sale crops. 

OTHER USES OF POTASH. 

Potash has indirect uses in addition to its value as 
actual plant food. Kainit proves to be useful against the 
common forms of leaf blight, and also is a check to wire 
worms in young corn. It is also used to supplement 
farmyard manures and to check loss of nitrogen in same. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 65 

This is done by sprinkling kainit, muriate or sulphate 
(preferably the latter) over the stable litter, much as gyp- 
sum is sometimes used. The sulphate should be used at 
the rate of 50 pounds per ton of stable manure. This is 
better than using gypsum, as the lime in the latter salt 
tends to render soluble phosphates in the material useless 
as plant food by changing it to an insoluble form. In 
this use the potash remains as available as if used by 
itself. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SIMPLE PLAN OF KEEPING FARM BOOKS* 
Page 67 shows a very simple plan of keeping books on 
a farm. A book with wide pages is used and ruled as 
indicated, or if a narrow book is used, the ruling is 
extended across two pages. By keeping account of sales 
in this way the farmer may know at a glance how much 
his sales amount to at any time in the year, and how 
much each commodity he produces has sold for. Of 
course the names of articles at the head of the columns 
may be varied to suit the products of the farm. 

By a similar system expenses may be accounted for. 
Instead of the names of things sold at the head of the 
columns, should be things bough tor paid for, such as hired 
help, machinery, dry goods, groceries, etc. This is the 
simplest and easiest way of keeping a cash account ever 
devised for the use of farmers. 



60 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



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30.00 








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68 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



Plan Indicating How One-half Acre Garden may be Planted so as to 

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CHAPTER VIII. 
THE GARDEN. 

No farm is complete without a good vegetable garden. 
As a rule the farm garden is a much neglected spot, 
because of the mistaken impression that it is something 
like a waste of time to work in the garden. If it is prop- 
erly treated, the garden will be the most profitable of any 
part of the farm of the same size. A good garden fur- 
nishes a large variety of wholesome food, and by far the 
larger part of the usual garden crops contain medicinal 
properties that make far better health and long life. It 
is a remarkable fact that garden crops come to maturity 
at that time in the year when they are most beneficial to 
the consumer. For instance, rhubarb is the earliest of 
the garden crops and besides being palatable it is a blood 
purifier of the first order and as a cure for dyspepsia has 
few superiors if any. These are the medicinal qualities 
desired early in the spring when the system has long 
been nourished on concentrated foods and the close con- 
finement, super-heated air and general conditions leave 
the human body in a condition that it needs toning up 
and the blood needs purifying. Asparagus, which comes 
next after rhubarb, is the very best kidney medicine 
known to science, besides being a delicious food. These 
are noted here to call attention to the peculiarity of 
garden crops that usually escapes attention. The medici- 
nal qualities of garden and fruit crops will be mentioned 
more fully in another place. 

6Q 



70 






SUCCESSFUL FARMING 


















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72 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

The location of the garden is a matter of importance. 
First it should be so situated that it can be reached from 
the kitchen with as few steps as possible, for it is usually 
the women folk of the farm who gather the crops as they 
are to be used on the table. Such a location is usually to 
one side and back of the house, and other things being 
favorable a small fruit orchard may be placed between 
the garden and the road. 

The best exposure for a garden is a southeast one. If 
the land slopes to the southeast it gets the benefit of the 
sun from early morning until noon and is somewhat pro- 
tected from the burning rays of the sun during the hot 
afternoons of summer. The next best exposure is to the 
south, and the very worst to the west or southwest. A 
garden should never slope to the north, but a northern 
exposure is better than one to the west or southwest. The 
ideal garden would be one sloping partly to the southeast 
and partly to the north, as a good many garden crops 
thrive better if they do not get the full rays of the sun at 
any time. It is rarely possible to get such an exposure, 
however, and we must do the best we can, always keeping 
in view proximity to the kitchen. The slope of a garden 
should be very gentle to prevent the fine soil from wash- 
ing during heavy rains. 

It very often happens that in laying out a garden it is 
impossible to have it where location and exposure are all 
that might be desired, and in such a case we can only do 
the best we can, and this is a great deal, for it is alto- 
gether possible to have a good garden under very unfa- 
vorable circumstances as to soil, location and exposure. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 73 

There is not very much danger of making the soil of 
the garden too rich in plant food. The gardeners of New 
York, Chicago and other large cities where extraordinary 
crops must be raised to make them profitable after paying 
the high rents demanded for land, use stable manure in 
quantities that always astonish one who is not accustomed 
to such a lavish use of fertilizers. Forty tons of rotted 
stable manure is not unusual on these gardens and the 
crops grown are enormous. The manure used on a gar- 
den should be very thoroughly rotted before it is applied 
to the soil or the best results cannot be obtained. The 
land should be thoroughly drained and deeply worked. 
The seeds of all our garden crops come from a long line 
of improved vegetables, grown for generations with a 
view to producing the largest and best that can be grown 
and plants from such seeds have an inherited tendency to 
ravenous feeding, and unless they are supplied with a 
large amount of plant food will not produce the tender, 
crisp and luxurious crops that are desirable in a garden. 

The shape of the garden is a matter that should be 
taken into consideration. It is well to be liberal as to 
size and so shape the garden that much of the work may 
be done with a horse, for very few farmers or farmers' 
boys like to use a hoe of any kind. 

A garden containing half an acre is a good size for an 
ordinary family. This should be eight rods wide and ten 
rods long with the long way north and south. 

The arrangement of the garden is something that is 
most often overlooked. The crops are usually planted in 



74 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

a hit-and-miss manner that interfere very much with the 
usefulness of the land in the production of crops. A well 
arranged garden may be made to produce at least two 
crops in a season without more work than would be nec- 
essary where but one is grown, but this is impossible 
unless the first planting is made with this in view. 

Where early vegetables are grown a later crop may be 
planted and have time to mature, and it is no more labor 
to take care of the second crop than it is to keep down 
the weeds that always spring up after an early crop is 
taken off the ground. That these late weed crops should 
be kept down goes without saying, as it is true in garden- 
ing that "one year's seeding makes seven years' weed- 
ing," and no weeds should be allowed to go to seed in the 
garden, or for that matter, on any part of the farm. 

On that part of the garden where rhubarb, asparagus, 
parsnips, carrots and late beets are grown it is not possi- 
ble to grow two crops, as these crops grow the whole sea- 
son. If early beets are substituted for late ones, a sub- 
stitution that works very well, for the early beets sown 
late so as to mature early in the fall, keep perfectly well 
during the winter. 

In planting the garden all the early vegetables should 
be planted on one side, beginning with the ones that come 
into use first, and then the next latest, and so on until when 
the last row is reached the latest is planted. In a garden 
planted in this way, the first row would be early radishes, 
then early lettuce, early peas, early beans and so on. The 
diagram on page 68 will give the reader an idea of how 






BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 75 

this may be done, the order given there being subject to 
such modifications as seem advisable to the planter. 

It will be noticed that in the diagram the rows run the 
entire length of the garden. This should be kept in mind 
when planting. If the old style of making beds for 
onions, radishes, beets, etc., is discarded and everything 
is planted in rows, itwill be much more convenient to cul- 
tivate the garden. Such things as corn, lima beans, 
tomatoes, potatoes and other crops may then be culti- 
vated with horse power, while the vegetables that are 
planted close together in narrow rows may be worked 
with a wheel hoe or even a hand hoe with much better 
satisfaction than is the case when planted in beds. 

It may happen that a full row of some particular 
variety will be more than is desired. In that case half the 
row may be planted to one thing and half to the other, 
the idea being to preserve the rows for convenience in 
cultivating. 

Garden crops should never be planted until the soil is 
in good order and in proper condition. The varying 
degrees of hardiness makes it impossible to plant the 
whole garden at one time unless we wait until it is too 
late for a part of them. Peas, lettuce, radishes and cab- 
bage may be planted very early. Lettuce seed will lie 
in the soil over winter and grow freely the next spring. 
Peas may be planted so early that the ground will freeze 
hard enough to bear up a man after they are in the ground 
and not be hurt at all. Potatoes are slow to come up 
under any circumstances and may be planted as soon 



76 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

as freezing weather is over, thus giving the weather 
time to get warm before they appear above the surface. 

There is a tendency in small gardens to crowd the 
plants into too small a space. This is not good economy, 
as crowded vegetables rarely give the best results either 
as to quantity or quality. The planting may be thick but 
care should be taken to thin the plants out so as give each 
one plenty of room. 

Peas should be planted at least four inches deep, as 
this allows the roots to grow in the cool soil, this plant 
doing best under such condition. Potatoes should be 
planted in deep furrows, six inches not being too deep. 
For all other garden crops a good rule is to plant the 
seeds twice as deep as the thickness of the seed. 

If the top soil is somewhat dry and there seems no 
prospect of an immediate rainfall vegetables do better if 
the soil is firmed by patting it down with the back of a 
spade as soon as the seeds are planted. If the soil is very dry 
it may be firmed quite solidly to advantage. The writer has 
planted beets as late as the first days in July and firmed 
the soil over the seeds by walking over the rows and thus 
secured a good stand in soil so dry that the seed would 
not have germinated it it had been left in its naturally 
loose state. 

The best plan in growing late cabbage is to plant the 
seeds where the crop is to grow. The rows are laid out 
and half a dozen seed planted every two feet. This is 
done the middle of May in the latitude of Chicago. 
When the plants come up they are allowed to grow until 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. J7 

they have formed three or four leaves, when all but the 
strongest ones are pulled up. This saves transplanting 
and the setback the plants get in this operation. 

It is impossible to make set rules to govern every case. 
The observing gardener will soon learn to adapt his prac- 
tice to his surroundings and profit by his experience. We 
have found it a very good plan to keep garden notes in a 
blank book kept for that purpose and in this way keep a 
record of the operations of the year. This book which 
now contains notes for several years, is valuable to refer 
to and is a constant reminder of what should be done or 
what may be done at certain seasons. The cultural 
directions which are given in another chapter are more 
general than specific. We mention the best soil for a 
good many of the vegetables, but they may be success- 
fully grown in almost any soil from the most intractable 
clay to the loosest loam. 

There is no farm in this country on which a good gar- 
den cannot be grown if behind the effort there is an earn- 
est desire to succeed. 






CHAPTER IX. 
THE HOME OF PLANTS, WITH BOTANICAL NAMES. 

Wheat (Triticum vulgare), is one of the principal food 
plants grown, being second only to rice. It has been 
cultivated from the earliest ages, and its place of origin 
is unknown. It was probably brought to Europe when 
the great tide of Aryan emigration came in from Central 
Asia. 

Corn {Zea maize), is a native of tropical America. 
Since the discovery of the New World its cultivation has 
spread over most of the warmer countries of the world. 
It has become the chief food plant of South Africa, being 
called "meales" in that country. 

Oats (Av'e?ia sativa), are the hardiest of the cereals. 
Their place of origin is unknown. 

Barley (Hordeum), was probably the first bread plant 
cultivated by man. It no doubt originated in Asia, but 
is now cultivated in all parts of the world. 

Rice (Oryza sativa), comes from Asia, and is the food 
grain of more people than any other grain, hundreds of 
millions of people in China, Japan, Siam and India 
depending on it as their principal article of diet. 

Potato (Sola?ium tuberosum), is of American origin, 
having been first found early in the XVI century near 
Quito, in South America. The first potatoes found were 
about as large as marbles. They are commonly called Irish 

potatoes to distinguish them from sweet potatoes (q. v.), 

78 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 79 

getting the name from the fact that the peasantry of Ire- 
land depend largely on them for food. 

Potato, sweet, {Batatas edulis), is a native of India, and 
is cultivated in all the warmer parts of the world. It is 
largely grown in our Southern States and yields enor- 
mous crops. 

Peas (Pisum sativum). This member of the pulse 
family is of the greatest antiquity, having been in cultiva- 
tion from the earliest time. Its place of origin is uncertain. 

Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). These very common 
vegetables are common to both hemispheres. A close 
relation, Vicia faba ) our common field bean, is known the 
world over. 

Cabbage (Brassica olearica), w r as in its wild state a 
native of Europe. The cultivated variety (Brassica olear- 
ica capitata), is one of the most important of the vegeta- 
ble family. 

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus). This is one of the most 
ancient vegetables known. It was one of the things the 
Israelites longed for during their long march in the wil- 
derness. 

Melon, Water (Cucumis citrellus), is mentioned in the 
ancient histories, and probably originated in Africa or 
India. 

Melon, Musk (Cucumis melo). This member of the 
cucumber family is spoken of by Galen, the Greek writer, 
and is probably of Asiatic origin. A variety called Can- 
teloup gets its name from Canteluppi, near Rome, to 
which place it was brought by missionaries returning 
from Armenia, 



80 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Beet {Beta vulgaris). A native of the shores of the 
Mediterranean. Originally a weed brought to a high 
state of cultivation by selection and cultivation. 

Radish (Rapkamis Sativa.) This vegetable is unknown 
in the wild state, and comes to us out of the mists of 
antiquity. 

Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) , is a native of Europe. 

Carrot (Daucus carota), is mentioned by old Roman 
writers as coming from Candia, now known as the Island 
of Crete. 

Lettuce (Lactuta sativa), has been known from the 
most ancient times. It is mentioned as having been a 
favorite dish of the Persian kings 400 years before Christ. 

Cauliflower, a variety of cabbage having the same 
origin. 

Leek (Allium porrum), has been cultivated since the 
days of the Pharaohs, and probably long before. A vari 
ety grows wild in the United States. 

Tomato (Lycopersicum escule?itum). The tomato is a 
native of the warmer parts of America. It was first culti 
vated for its ornamental fruits under the name of "Love 
Apple," by which name it is still known in France. It is 
a very important article of food, the canned tomato being 
in common use in remote parts of the earth. 

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), is of American origin^ 
and since its introduction to Europe its use has spread to 
every part of the earth. 

Strawberry {Fragrans vesca, F } Virgi?iiana) . These 
two varieties of the strawberry are very closely related, 
and are both native American fruits. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 8l 

Raspberry {Rubies occidentallis). The "black cap" 
raspberry is a native of America, found growing wild in 
the greater portion of the territory of the United States. 
The red variety {Rubus ideas), is a native of Asia. 

Blackberry {Rubus rhamnifolius, R. corylifoleus), grows 
wild in America. 

Dewberry {Rubus caesius). A trailing variety of the 
blackberry common in many parts of the United States. 

Pear {Pyrus communis). A native of the mountainous 
countries of Europe and Central Asia. It has been culti- 
vated for many hundred years, and no wild species is 
known. 

Apple {Pyrus malus) . Grows wild, as the crab apple 
in Europe, Asia and America. The cultivated varieties 
all come from foreign species, as the American crab 
apple has never been improved. 

Peach {Amygdalluspersica). This delicious food came 
to us from Persia, the Persians getting it from China. 

Plum {Prunus domestica). Our domesticated plums 
are of Asiatic origin, although we have several varieties 
that are no doubt hybrids of our native wild plums. 

Rhubarb {Rheum), gets its name from Rha, an ancient 
name for the river Volga, along the shore of which river 
it was originally found growing wild. The improved 
varieties are largely the result of the skill of American 
horticulturists. 

Turnip {Brassica rapa depressa). This vegetable was 
known to the ancient Greeks. It probably originated in 
Southeastern Europe. 



CHAPTER X. 
FRUIT GROWING. 

APPLES. 

Those who live in the United States north of the north- 
ern line of the gulf states are as favorably located as 
regards the fruit supply to which they may have access 
as any people in any part of the world. While it is true 
that they cannot grow tropical fruits in this territory, 
there is no other portion of the world where a greater 
variety of fruits may be produced nor where more sorts of 
real merit are found. 

It is safe to say that in the larger part of this great 
Mississippi valley it is possible to have fresh fruits every 
day in the year. Beginning in the spring with straw- 
berries, we have a constant succession ranging through 
raspberries, blackberries, cherries, early apples, pears, 
plums, grapes, late pears and winter apples, many varie- 
ties of which keep until strawberries come again in the 
spring. 

In a large part of the territory named peaches do well 
and are among the standard crops, and over a section of 
country large enough to make an empire, the apple, the 
king of fruits, comes to its greatest perfection and is a 
source of wealth. 

The man who grows fruit for sale sells very little of the 
fertility of his soil. As one fruit grower has said, fruits 
of all kinds are mostly water and sunshine with a little 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 83 

flavoring, and this is absolutely true, as almost all the ele- 
ments that go to make fruits come from the air, the pro- 
portions of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash being 
very smalL 

When all the facts of favorable climatic and soil con- 
ditions, constant markets and ease of production are 
taken into consideration it seems that every farmer should 
pay some attention to the production of fruits. 

Any soil that will grow a good crop of corn will pro- 
duce a good crop of any of the fruits that are common to 
the temperate portions of this country. The preparation 
of the soil for planting an orchard is not different from 
that for growing any other crop. The land should be 
deeply plowed and thoroughly cultivated, and if not 
fairly fertile, should be well fertilized with stable manure 
or commercial fertilizer, which should be worked into the 
soil with the harrow. 

For apples the holes to receive the trees should be 
dug about thirty feet apart. In setting the trees, Henry 
M. Dunlap, president of the Illinois State Horticultural 
Society, advises that they be set not to exceed two inches 
deeper than they stood in the nursery. 

In buying trees the traveling tree peddler should not 
be considered. Thousands of dollars have been spent for 
trees bought of these men only to be wasted on varieties 
that are not good in the section where they are sold, or 
for trees that proved, when they came into bearing, to be 
not true to name. 



U 



84 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Nurseries are so numerous that almost every day one 
may buy of the original grower, and where this is not pos- 
sible orders may be sent direct by mail to responsible 
nurserymen who will send only the varieties ordered. 

Jonathan Periam, the veteran horticulturist, has this to 
say on the subject of planting out an orchard: 

"It is not practical to give varieties adapted to various 
locations. Nevertheless, those doing well in the several 
states mentioned below, will be valuable as a pointer. 
By consulting the proceedings of the State Horticultural 
Society, where you have your home, you may inform 
yourself as to what varieties of fruit or berries will be 
likely to do well with you. 

" In a paper read at the last horticultural meeting in 
Kansas by Mr. Edwin Snyder, he says, ' It was, for the 
farmers' orchard, recommended to plant ioo apple trees, 
ioo peach, 50 pear, 50 cherry and 25 plum. What varieties 
to plant? There are 3,000 named varieties of apples; 
probably twenty of them are worthy of general cultiva- 
tion. If I were planting another commercial orchard I 
should plant only three varieties — Jonathan, Missouri 
Pippin and Ben Davis — but a family orchard is different. 
Some early apples that have little commercial value are 
very useful in domestic economy; and, besides, there 
should be varieties ripening at different times to cover 
the season. I would select twelve varieties as follows: 

" Twenty Jonathan, 20 Wine Sap, 10 Missouri Pippin, 
10 Maiden Blush, 10 Grimes' Golden, 5 Early Harvest, 
5 Red June, 5 Ben Davis, 5 Minkler, 5 Jersey Sweet, 3 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 85 

Lowell and 2 Yellow Bellefleur. I would select a still 
greater number of varieties of peaches, say, 20 Elberta, 
10 Salway, 10 Hill's Chill and 5 each of Sneed, Triumph, 
Champion, Greensboro, Heath Cling, Old Mixon Free, 
Smock, Foster, Wager, Wright, Mountain Rose and 
Crosby. 

" In planting a commercial peach orchard of 10,000 
peach trees two years ago, of sixteen varieties, I planted 
3,500 Elbertas. It is at present the most popular peach 
grown. Of pear trees I would plant 20 Keiffer, 5 Seckel, 
5 Duchess, 5 Bartlett, 5 Koonce, 6 Flemish Beauty, 5 Lin- 
coln Coreless. 

"My list of cherries would embrace but two varieties, 
one-half each Early Richmond and Montmorency. " 

In the report of the Iowa Horticultural Society for 
1898, Mr. N.C. Wragg, of Waukee, considered Oldenburg, 
Wealthy, Fameuse, Northwest Greening and Malinda top- 
worked on Oldenburg and Hibernal, the.best for his sec- 
tion. Mr. H. D. McCoy of Knoxville, Iowa, considers 
the best varieties for the home to be: Summer, Red June, 
Red Astrachan, William's Favorite, Sweet June, Olden- 
burg; fall, Lowell, Maiden Blush, Snow, Ramsdell and 
Fall Orange; winter, Grimes' Golden, Jonathan, Wine Sap, 
Ben Davis, and Rawles Janet. 

At the late meeting of the Illinois Horticultural 
Society the following apples were recommended for a 
farmer's apple orchard of 100 trees : 

For Northern Illinois: 

Summer Varieties — 2 Red Astrachan, 4 Duchess, 2 



86 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Benoni, 2 Whitney, 2 Yellow Transparent. 

Fall Varieties — 6 Wealthy, 2 McMahon, 4 Fameuse, 2 
Longfield, 2 Ramsdell Sweet. 

Early Winter — 5 Jonathan, 7 Grimes' Golden, 2 Tol- 
man Sweet, 5 Roman Stem. 

Late Winter— 6 Minkler, 10 Willow Twig, 15 North- 
western Greeting, 10 Salome, 10 Ben Davis, 4 White 
Pippin. 

For Central Illinois the following varieties are recom- 
mended: 

Summer — Red Astrachan, Benoni, Sops of Wine, Early 
Harvest, Oldenburg (Duchess of), Golden Sweet, Yellow 
Transparent. — 

Fall — Maiden's Blush, Fameuse, Autumn Strawberry, 
Wealthy, Ramsdell Sweet. 

Early Winter — Jonathan, Roman Stem, Grimes' Golden. * 

Late Winter — Minkler, Ben Davis, York Imperial, Wil- 
low, Rawles Janet. 

For Southern Illinois the list is as follows : 

Summer — Red Astrachan, Early Harvest, Red June, 
Sops of Wine, Benoni, Cornell, Jefferis, Sweet Bough, Kes- 
wick Codlin. 

Fall — Maiden Blush, Grimes' Golden, Lowell, Jona- 
than, Mother, Ramsdell Sweet. 

Winter — Ben Davis, Minkler, Rome Beauty, York 
Imperial, Wine Sap, Ralls Janet, White Pippin. 

The lists above given, with slight modifications, will 
serve as a guide for Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and 
Arkansas. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 87 

For an orchard in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and 
other states east and north, considerable changes would 
be made. The Baldwin, Greening, Bellefleur, Spy and 
other varieties that do not do well in the West would be 
substituted. There are probably two thousand varieties 
and sub-varieties of apples, known of which comparatively 
few are standard. This makes it impossible, as Mr. Periam 
hints, to give a list suitable to all sections, and his advice 
to consult the transactions of the state horticultural 
societies is good. 

PEARS. 

While pears are a delicious fruit relished by everyone, 
they are of much less importance than their cousins the 
apples. They have not the late-keeping properties of the 
apple, and the early varieties soon become unmarketable. 

Pears are different from apples in their adaptability to 
location. While an apple that will do well in Illinois may 
not succeed in the East, and many varieties that are 
standard in the East cannot be grown in the West, the 
pear with hardly an exception does as well in one place 
as another. 

The chief difficulty in growing pears has been for a 
few years the prevalence of a disease known as the blight. 
Investigators have studied this disease in vain. They are 
pretty well satisfied that it is the product of a bacterial 
growth in the sap of the tree, but have not been able to 
find any remedy for it. Sometimes a neighborhood will 
escape the disease for years and then it will appear, and 
soon almost every tree will become affected and in a year 



88 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

or two die. The symptoms of the disease are easily recog- 
nized. The leaves turn brown as if they had been exposed 
to a killing heat and this burned appearance spreads until 
one branch after another is affected and the whole tree 
dies. Very often but one branch will be affected the first 
year, but it is only a matter of time when the tree will 
succumb. 

So far but one variety of the pear has been found that 
resists the blight. This variety originated from a single 
seed carried by a pioneer from near Xenia, Ohio, to a 
farm in Sangamon county, Illinois, early in the nineteenth 
century. From this seed sprang a tree that is still bear- 
ing fruit, a giant among pear trees, being perhaps the 
largest one in the United States. The writer, who can 
span six feet from finger tip to finger tip, and a friend who 
can do as well, tried to touch finger tips around this giant 
tree and failed by twelve inches. This tree in all the years 
it has lived has never been touched by the blight, nor has 
one of the thousands of trees that have been propagated 
from the scions taken from its branches. So far the Sud- 
duth pear stands alone of all its kind as being free from 
the attacks of the blight. 

Pears delight in high, rolling land, and will not suc- 
ceed if planted in land where the sub-soil is at all wet. 
They should be well cultivated until they come into bear- 
ing, after which it is a concensus of opinion that it is best 
to seed the land to grass and cease all cultivation. 

Pears are usually rather late to come into bearing, but 
there are some notable exceptions to this rule. The 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 89 

Keiffer bears at six or seven years from the nursery and 
the Sudduth begins to bear as early as three years from 
the nursery. Both of these varieties are late, the Sudduth 
coming to maturity in September and the Keiffer still 
later. 

The dwarf pears bear much earlier than the standard 
or natural trees, and it is a good plan when setting pears 
to set standard trees and between them plant a few dwarfs 
to furnish fruit until the standards come into bearing. 

In the selection of varieties there is abundant room, 
but from the large number catalogued by nurserymen it 
is easy to make a selection that will furnish a succession 
of fruit from the earliest on to Christmas or later. 

The Illinois Horticultural Society recommends for a 
farmer's orchard, Tyson, Howell, Flemish Beauty, Keiffer, 
Seckel, Sudduth, Lincoln. For dwarf pears, Duches de 
Angouleme and Louise Bonne de Jersey are recom- 
mended. 

In planting Keiffers it should be remembered that they 
do not bear well unless they are planted in proximity to 
other varieties, as the blossoms in this variety are very 
poor in pollen. In an orchard of Keiffers about every 
twentieth tree should be of some other variety. 

Besides the varieties named above the Bartlett, Clapp 
and Anjou do well in most places. 

Pears keep best when picked before they get fully 
ripe and laid in a dark place to ripen, but when wanted 
for immediate use they are never so good as when fully 
ripened on the tree. 



90 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

PLUMS, PEACHES AND CHERRIES. 

The plum is a very important fruit, and a source of 
considerable income to those who plant freely of it. Its 
insect enemies and the disease to which it is subject, yield 
quite readily to treatment, except in case of black knot, 
for which no certain cure is known. However, this dis- 
ease is not very common, and it is believed that it is grad- 
ually disappearing, as fruit growers watch it more closely 
and cut down and burn affected trees. 

The plum is common to all countries in the north tem- 
perate zone, and is fonnd growing wild from the Gulf of 
Mexico to almost the northern limits of the United States. 
Besides the native species, we have the varieties that have 
come from Europe and Asia and hybrids of the two spe- 
cies, some of which are of wonderful size and prolifi- 
cacy. 

The plum does best when planted on a retentive soil 
with a northern exposure, but with proper care it should 
do well in almost any location that is not too wet, and it 
will stand considerably more water than the peach or 
cherry. 

The trees should be planted ten feet apart, in rows 
that are about twenty feet apart, and should be cultivated 
or heavily mulched to keep the soil sufficiently moist for 
the trees to flourish. 

The plum is a very prolific bearer when given a good 
chance to produce a full crop of fruit, and it is very common 
for a plum orchard to bear such large crops that the 
trees become exhausted and die at an early age. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 9I 

When the trees give promise of bearing large crops, 
it is very profitable work to thin the fruit until no more 
is left than the tree can mature. Doing this not only 
saves the tree, but the fruit that is left is larger and more 
valuable, and will sell for more than could have been got 
if all the fruit that was set had been allowed to remain on 
the tree. 

The most destructive enemy of the plum is the plum 
curculio, a small insect, that deposits its eggs in the young 
fruit. ' These eggs hatch and the larvae bore into the 
fruit, causing it to drop before maturing. 

The presence of this insect is denoted by a crescent 
shaped mark on the fruit, and because of this mark the 
curculio is frequently called the "little Turk." 

There are two ways of circumventing this insect. One 
is, to spray the tree with a solution of Paris green. 
Another way is to jar the insect from the tree and destroy 
it by burning or scalding. To trap the insects, a sheet of 
common muslin as large as the spread of the branches of 
the trees is provided. A slit is left half-way through the 
middle of this sheet so it may spread under the tree with 
the stem in the center. Then a thick pad is fastened to 
the tree just below the limbs, and this pad is struck 
sharply with a wooden mallet. The shock jars the insects 
from the tree, and they fall on the sheet. This work 
should be done very early in the morning, when the 
insects are stupid. If a flock of poultry is allowed to run 
under the plum trees all the time they very frequently 



92 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

keep the curculio in such close subjection that only 
enough of the tree is injured to thin the crop down to 
about what it should be for best results. 

Plums sell well in almost any market, and are so easily 
grown that the farmer who has a surplus is able to add to 
his revenue at a very small cost for labor invested. 

When canned, or made into preserves, they make a 
welcome addition to the table, and as a dessert fruit to be 
eaten out of the hand, they are always acceptable. 

North of the latitude of Springfield, 111., Indianapolis, 
Ind., and Columbus, Ohio, the peach crop is a very uncer- 
tain one, except in certain favored sections, like that part 
of Michigan along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, 
where the peach crop is a very important one, the grow- 
ing of peaches being possible on account of the favor- 
able climatic conditions, due to the proximity of the lake 
on the west. 

Uncertain as it is, there is not infrequently a good 
crop of peaches as far north as northern Illinois, and 
wherever peaches may be counted on one year in five, it 
pays to have a few peach trees. 

The peach tree is not particular about what care it 
receives. If it is planted where the soil is good, and the 
drainage, natural or artificial, such as to carry off the sur- 
face water, it will grow and thrive in spite of neglect. 

To be sure it grows quicker and bears better for good 
care, but the farmer who lives above the latitude of fre- 
quent peach crops will not care to devote much time to 
cultivating a tree which is of such uncertain fruitfulness. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 93 

Under such conditions the best place for peach trees 
is in the unoccupied corners, along fences and in other 
places where the land would go to waste or grow up to 
weeds, if it were not occupied by a tree. 

In those sections of the country where the peach 
thrive there is no fruit that pays better. It is a free 
bearer, and the crop always sells at a fair price, and often 
at a high price. 

For the farmer to whom the commercial consideration 
is secondary, the value of the peach lies in the ease with 
which it may be put in condition for future use. Canned 
or dried it keeps indefinitely, and every farm that lies 
where peaches produce even occasional crops should plant 
at least a few peach trees. 

For the northern limit of peaches but few varieties can 
be commended as being hardy enough to withstand the 
severe winters. Among these Elberta, Stump and Cham- 
pion are probably the best three. A little farther South, 
say the latitude of St. Louis, the list might be 'extended 
to include the Early Crawford, Foster, Thurber and 
Alexander, besides those already named. Still further 
South other varieties might be added, the names of which 
are legion. 

There is this advantage in growing peaches: The seeds 
of any peach maybe planted, and the fruit will be at least 
fairly good. It will never be like the parent tree, but all 
peaches are good, and seedling trees are likely to be some- 
what hardier than those grown from budded stock. 
Another advantage in growing peaches is, that the tree 



94 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

comes into bearing at three or four years, and that it 
will grow to maturity in a fence corner without having 
had a moment's attention in the way of cultivation. 

Cherries for the farmer are an uncertain crop. They 
are not only the object of attack from insect enemies, but 
the birds watch for them, and devour them in large quan- 
tities. Notwithstanding this, it is worth while to plant 
the trees and care for them, for the fruit is very whole- 
some and palatable. 

The cherry tree responds readily to good cultivation, 
and if well taken care of, will begin to produce at four or five 
years. There are but two varieties that are worth consid- 
ering by the farmer, Early Richmond and Montmorency, 
although some might feel inclined to add Morello. 



CHAPTER XI. 
• A CHEAP BARN. 

In many places it is impossible to find trees large 
enough to make the framework of a large barn according 
to the ideas that have prevailed on this subject, without 
buying the timber at a great cost. This has prevented 
many farmers from building barns large enough to pro- 
tect their stock and feed. 

The thrifty Pennsylvania Dutch have a saying that the 
man who builds a barn will soon save enough by it to build 
his house, and the "big red barn " of Pennsylvania is one 
of the characteristice of that state. 

A few years ago a system of building barns that does 
nQt require the use of timber of large dimensions was 

originated in Ohio, 
and used very cau- 
tiously at first, but 
which is now almost 
universally adopted 
in some parts of the 
state. By this system 
the largest barns are 
built, the largest tim- 
bers being only 2x8 
inches. These barns 
are built without a mortise or tenor in any of the timbers 
and have stood the greatest strain without damage and 
have proved their strength and efficiency in every way. 

95 



J^ll 


f ~^\ 




II 


//\ 


w 


JU 


/,.A 


L-i^l »\xZ3. 


II 




L * 


II 


w 


Xx'^y^gggL 





FIG. I. 



96 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

The timbers are built up by spiking together planks 
two inches thick and eight inches wide for the posts, sills 
and main beams, the other timbers being 2x6 inches. 
Where it is convenient it is usual to have the pilanks from 
which these frames are built up sawed the proper length 
to reach across the building, but where this is not per- 
fectly convenient the planks are sawed the proper width 
and thickness and of the most convenient length, some 
barns being made entirely of timbers that are not to 
exceed twelve feet long. 

The advantages of a frame of this kind are, cheapness, 
as planks are never so costly as heavy dimension timber; 
ease of management, as there are no heavy timbers to 
lift; strength, as the method of building and bracing is 
much better than the old way of short braces; convenience, 
these barns having no cross beams to interfere with filling 
the mows with a horse fork. 

In building a barn by this method three men will build 
a frame and put in place without difficulty no matter how 
large the barn may be. The method is so simple that it 
hardly needs explanation. The illustration on this page 
gives such a clear idea of the manner of constructing the 
frame that any carpenter can put it up without further 
detail. 

Figure 1 shows an end bent which is arranged for a 
door in the end of the barn. If the door is desired in the 
side the girder that is left out for the door would run 
across the entire end. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



97 



Figure 2 shows an inside bent, showing the open 
character of the frame work without a beam or brace in 
the way of working on the inside of the barn. In the 
illustrations the manner of putting the floor over the 
stables i^ clearly indicated. 

It will be seen that the braces are all very long, having 
a great purchase, and that the roof is self-supporting. In 

this barn twenty penny 
spikes and half-inch 
bolts were used, but as 
a rule only the spikes 
are used in building up 
the frame. The barn 
for which these illustra- 
tions were made is 30X 
60 feet and three men 
put up the frame in 
four days without difficulty. 

With slight modifications which any carpenter could 
make all the outbuildings of the farm could be made on the 
same plan, as the frame work is self-supporting and very 
stiff and staunch. 

The illustrations are made from a frame where the 
weatherboarding was put on up and down. If it was to 
be put on horizontally the girders would be changed 
accordingly. 




CHAPTER XII. 
FEEDING LIVE STOCK. 

Every intelligent feeder understands that there is a 
great difference in the value of feeds. For instance, a 
good clover hay is worth more pound for pound than 
wheat straw and a bushel of corn will make more pork 
than a bushel of oats. 

Experienced and successful feeders in all parts of the 
civilized world have been watching the effects of the 
various feeds for many years and scientists have been 
investigating the chemical composition of all materials 
that are used for the feed of animals or food for man. 
Extended experiments have been carried on in America, 
England, Germany and other countries, in which live 
stock has been fed certain rations until we now have the 
science of feeding so well in hand that it is easy to 
determine what should be given a domestic animal of any 
kind or age in order to make it give us the best possible 
return for the feed it consumes. 

We not only know that the best feed for a growing 
hog is not the best for a dairy cow, but we know why it 
is not the best. The feeder who understands computing 
rations for his live stock is able to determine what feed 
or feeds will do him the most good, and what he can feed 
with the most profit. 

Prof. W. A. Henry, Dean of the Wisconsin College of 
Agriculture, who has spent many years experimenting, 

Q8 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 99 

feeding various kinds of stock and carefully weighing and 
noting the amount of feed consumed, the kind and the 
results, is the author of the best book on this subject that 
has been published. The title of this book is "Feeds and 
Feeding," and no farmer can afford to do without it if he 
would feed the grain and forage he produces to the best 
advantage. 

While there is not space enough in this work to take 
up the whole subject of feeds and feeding, it has been 
thought that it might not be uninteresting to give some 
elementary information on these subjects, briefly defining 
terms used and giving analyses of the principal feed 
materials used by the American Feeders, in order that the 
reader may be able to compute rations without difficulty 
and thereby be enabled to feed his stock in accordance 
with the best methods. For this purpose we have selected 
the matter that appears in Bulletin 154 Cornell University 
Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y., which was prepared 
by Prof. J. L. Stone. This bulletin seems to us to be the 
best and most comprehensive publication that has ever 
been issued on this subject. 

Prof. Stone says: "It is with a view of further simplify- 
ing the computation of rations and bring it within range 
of every feeder that the accompanying tables have been 
prepared. The effort has been to carry the computations 
as near to completion as possible, so that the user will 
simply need to take from the table the figures corres- 
ponding to the kinds and amounts of the feeds used in 
the proposed rations and add them together to be able to 

LofC. 



t$Y SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. IOl 

Compare it with the standard. The only advantage 
claimed for this publication is that by the arrangement of 
the tables and by the computations made, the labor of 
formulating rations is materially reduced, and it is hoped 
that many who have not heretofore attempted this work 
for themselves will be encouraged to do so. 

PRINCIPALS OF FEEDING. 

The various substances found in animal bodies may for 
convenience be grouped under four heads: Water, ash, 
or mineral matter; fat, and nitrogenous matter or protein. 
These substances occur in the animal body in somewhat 
varying proportions, depending upon age, condition, 
treatment, etc. 

Water is an essential constituent of the animal body 
and constitutes from 40 to 60 per cent of its live weight. 
Ash occurs mainly in the bones and constitutes from two 
to five per cent, of live weight. The fat occurs in greatly 
varying proportions but is rarely less than six or more 
than thirty per cent. All those substances containing 
nitrogen are classed as protein. They constitute an im- 
portant group of which washed lean meat and the white 
of an egg may be taken as types. They contain about 16 
per cent of the element nitrogen and are the only class 
into the composition of which this element enters. All 
the working machinery of the body, such as flesh, skin, 
bones, hair, internal organs, brain and nerves, contain a 
large proportion of protein. 



102 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

COMPOSITION OF FOOD MATERIALS. 

The same four group of substances found in animal bodies 
viz: water, ash, fat and protein, are also found in the food 
they consume, and in addition the food of herbivorous 
animals contains a class called carbohydrates. 

Water — All food stuffs, no matter how dry they may 
seem, contain a considerable amount of water. In grains 
and dry fodders it ranges from eight to fifteen per cent, 
of the material; in green forage and silage it is about 80 
per cent., while in some roots to amounts to 90 per 
cent. While water is essential to animal life and the 
water in the food fulfills the same function as that drunk 
by the animal, we do not value food materials by the 
water they contain, and computations are based on the 
water-free or dry matter. 

Ash — When a food stuff is burned till the organic 
matter is all driven off the residue is the ash. It is com- 
posed largely of lime, magnesia,^potash, soda, iron, chlo- 
rine, and carbonic, sulphuric and phosphoric acids. The 
ash of the food is the source of the mineral matter of the 
animal body and as such is of great importance. Ordi- 
nary combinations of feeding stuffs, however, contain an 
abundant supply of mineral matter for the use of the 
animal, so it is not a matter of practical concern except as 
it has a bearing on the mineral elements of fertility in the 
manure. 

Fats — This group embraces the materials which may 
be dissolved from a feeding stuff by ether. It includes, 
beside the true fats, wax and coloring matter. Fat in the 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 103 

food may either be stored in the body as fat, or burned to 
produce heat and energy. 

Carbohydrates — This term includes two groupes, nitro- 
gen-free extract, such as starch, sugar, gum, etc., and 
fiber or the woody part of plants. The former are quite 
freely digested, the latter much less so, though fulfilling 
the same function to the extent it is digested. The 
carbohydrates constitute the largest part of vegetable 
foods. They are not stored in the animal body as such, 
but are converted into fat or used (burned) to produce 
heat and energy. 

Since the carbohydrates and fat serve nearly the same 
purpose in the animal economy, they may for convenience 
be grouped together. Experiments, however, have shown 
that fat is about 2% times as effective as a food as are the 
carbohydrates. Hence it is customary to multiply the 
amount of fat by 2% to reduce it to a " starch equivalent'" 
before adding it to the amount of carbohydrates. 

Protein — The protein of foods, like that of the animal 
body, is characterized by containing nitrogen. It there- 
fore is frequently termed " nitrogenous matter. " The 
term albumenoids is sometimes used to designate this 
group, though it more correctly implies a certain class of 
protein substances. The function of protein in the food 
is, first of all, to build up and repair the working machinery 
of the body, and to supply protein for the production of 
milk, wool, etc. No other food constituent can fulfill this 
function. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 105 

The importance of a sufficient supply of protein in the 
ration, is, therefore, apparent. If in excess of the 
amount required to build up and repair the waste of the 
body the protein may be converted into fat and deposited 
as such or used to produce heat and energy. Its efficiency 
for these purposes is about the same as the carbohy- 
drates, but as it is usually far more expensive to supply 
than carbohydrates, economy would dictate that only so 
much should be supplied to the animal as will suffice to 
repair the wastes of the animal machinery and build up 
new growth in the case of growing animals, or for the 
production of milk, wool, etc. 

COMPOUNDING OF RATION. 

Nutritive Ratio — Since the protein on one hand and 
the carbohydrates and fat on the other, serve, in the main, 
different purposes in the animal economy, it becomes 
evident that the relative amount of these nutriments in 
the food are important. The relation is expressed as the 
" nutritive ratio," which means the relation of digestible 
protein to digestible carbohydrates and fat — the fat having 
been multiplied by 2% before adding to the carbohy- 
drates, as explained above. The nutritive ration is found 
by dividing the carbohydrates, plus 2% times the fat, by 
the protein. In the accompanying table No. II, the sum 
of the carbohydrates and fat thus obtained, is given in 
the third column, which divided by the protein as given 
in the second column gives the second term of the nutri- 
tive ratio in the fifth column. 



106 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

A feeding stuff having a large proportion of carbody- 
drates and fat is compared to protein is said to have a 
" wide" nutritive ratio, while one having a small propor- 
tion of carbohydrates and fat as compared to protein has 
a " narrow" ratio. While these terms are relative, it may 
be said that a ratio greater than 1.6 is wide, while one less 
than 1.5 is narrow. The composition of the feeding stuffs, 
that is the proportion in which the different nutrients 
occur, is determined by chemical analysis, but the amount 
of each nutrient that is actually digestible has been 
determined by careful experiments with living animals. 
Only the digestible nutrients are considered in the tables 
given in this publication. 

Feeding Standards — The amount of nutrients required 
and the proportion in which each should be given, varies 
with the kind of animal and the purpose for which it is 
kept; whether it is growing, being fattened, doing work, 
or producing milk or wool. Thus an ox requires less food 
and the various nutrients in different proportion than 
an ox at work; a cow producing milk requires more food 
and the nutrients differently balanced than one not 
producing. 

Various investigators have condensed the results of 
many experiments and much practical experience into 
what are called " feeding standards," which attempt to 
state what is in general, and under average conditions, a 
good ration for the purpose in view. While these stand- 
ards cannot be considered as mathematically exact, still 
large practical experience has demonstrated their great 
value as aids to feeders. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 107 

In Table I, under the title of feeding standards, are 
given the approximate requirements of various classes of 
animals and under varying conditions. These standards 
are mostly from German sources, but they have been 
found very helpful to American feeders. They are pre- 
sented here as arranged by Armsby, in Circular of Inform- 
ation No. 1, " Computation of Rations for Farm Animals, " 
Penn. State College. The standards are for animals of 
of 1,000 pounds live weight, and maybe increased or 
diminished for larger or smaller animals, though it is 
probable that the individuality of the animal, its power to 




assimulate and produce, will have more to do with the 
varying of its rations than its weight. It is permissable, 
perhaps, to depart from the amounts given in the first 
column under the head of "Dry Matter/' more than in any 
other way. The digestive apparatus of farm animals is 
elastic and accommodates itself quite readily to the 
varying bulk of its food. In the last column is given the 
nutritive ration, which should, perhaps, be adhered to 
with some care, trusting to the appetite of the animal 
(which will be controlled largely by its power of digest- 
ing and producing) to indicate the amount of nutrients 



io8 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



required. As a rule the most rapid fattening or growth 
and abundant production are most economical, and these 
results are best secured by feeding an abundant and 
well-balanced ration (well up to the limit of the animal's 
appetite, while the dry matter is not permitted to rise 
much above the standard. 

FEEDING STANDARDS. 
A — per day and 1,000 pounds live weight. 







Pounds of Digestible 










Nutrient* 








Total 










Kind and Amount of Feed. 


Dry 
Matter. 




Carbohy- 


Nu 
R 


tritive 
atio. 






Protein. 


drates + 
(fat X 


Total 










2.25). 






Oxen at rest in stall 


17-5 


0.7 


8-3 


9.0 I 


II. 9 


Wool Sheep, coarser breeds 


20.0 


1.2 


10.8 


12.0 I 


9.0 


Wool Sheep, finer breeds.. 


22.5 


i-5 


12.0 


13-5 I 


8.0 


Oxen moderately worked. . . 


24.0 


1.6 


12.0 


13.0 I 


7.5 


Oxen heavily worked 


26.0 


2.4 


14-3 


16.7 I 


6.0 


Horses lightly worked 


20.0 


i-5 


10.4 


II. 9 I 


6.9 


Horses moderately worked. 


21 .0 


i-7 


11. 8 


13.5 I 


6.9 


Horses heavily worked 


23.O 


2.3 


H.3 


16.6 I 


6.2 


Milk Cows, Wolff's standard 


24.O 


2.5 


13-4 


15.9 I 


5-4 


Milk Cows, Wisconsin Stn'd 


24.5 


2.2 


14.9 


17. I I 


6.8 


Fattening Oxen, prelimi- 












nary period 


27.O 


2.5 


16. 1 


18.6 I 


6.4 


Fattening Oxen, main period 


26.0 


3.0 


16.4 


I9.4 I 


5-5 


Fattening Oxen, finishing 












period > 


25.O 


2.7 


16.2 


18.9 I 


6.0 


Fattening Sheep, prelimi- 






nary period 


26.0 
25.O 


3-o 

3-5 


16.3 


19-3 1 
19-3 1 


5-4 
4-5 


Fatt'ng Sheep, main period. 


Fatt'ng Swine, preliminary 












period 


36.O 
31.0 


5.0 
4.0 


27.5 
24.0 


32.5 1 
28.0 1 


5-5 
6.0 


Fatt'ng Swine, main period. 


Fattening Swine, finishing 












period 


23-5 


2.7 


17.5 


20.2 1 


6.5 





BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



109 



FEEDING STANDARDS— Continued. 



Pounds of Digestible 









Nutrients 




* 


Total 

Dry 

Matter. 








Kind and Amount of Feed. 




Carbohy- 










drates -\- 








Protein. 


(fat X 


Total 








225). 




Age. Months Average live Weight 










Per head 










Growing Cattle* 










2-3 150 lbs. . . . 


22.0 


4.0 


18.3 


22.3 


3-6 300 " 


23-4 


3-2 


15.8 


I9.0 


6-12 500 " 


24.O 


2-5 


14.9 


17-4 


12-18 700 " 


24.O 


2.0 


13-9 


15.9 


18-24 850 " .... 


24.O 


1.6 


12.7 


14.3 


Growing Sheep. 










5- 6 56 lbs. . . . 


28.0 


3.2 


17.4 


20.6 


6-8 67 "... . 


25.O 


2.7 


14.7 


17-4 


8-11 75 " .... 


23.O 


2. I 


12.5 


14.6 


11-15 82 " 


22.5 


i-7 


11. 8 


13-5 


15-20 85 " 


22.0 


i-4 


11 . 1 


12.5 


Growing Fat Pigs* 










2- 3 50 lbs. . . . 


42.0 


7-5 


30.0 


37-5 


3-5 100 " 


34-0 


5.0 


25.0 


30.0 


5- 6 125 " .... 


31-5 


4-3 


23.7 


28.0 


6-8 170 " .... 


27.O 


3-4 


20.4 


23.8 


8-12 250 " .... 


21 .O 


2-5 


16.2 


18.7 



B— Per day and per head. 



Growing Cattle. 

2- 3 

3-6 

6-12 
12-18 
18-24 

Growing Sheep. 

5- 6 

6- 8 
8-1 1 

11-15 
15-20 



150 lbs 
300 " 
500 " 
700 " 
850 " 



56 lbs 
67 " 

75 " 

82 " 

85 " 



3-3 

7.0 

12.0 

16.8 

20.4 



Growing Fat Swine. 

2- 3 50 lbs 

3- 5 100 " 
5- 6 125 " 
6-8 170 " 
8-12 250 " 



2. 1 
3-4 
3-9 
4.6 

5-2 



0.6 
1 .0 

i-3 
i-4 
i-4 



o. 1 
0.18 
o. 16 

0.14 

O. 12 



O.38 
O.5O 
O.54 
O.58 
0.62 



O.974 
O.981 
0-953 
0-975 
O.955 



1.50 

2.50 
2.96 

3-47 
4.05 



Nutritive 
Ratio. 



1: 4.6 
1: 4.9 

1 : 6.0 
1: 7-0 
1: 8.0 

1: 5-4 

1: 5.4 
1 : 6.0 
1 : 7.0 
1: 8.0 



1: 4.0 
1: 5.0 

1: 5-5 

1: 6.0 
1:6.5 



1: 4.6 
1: 4-9 

1: 6.0 
1: 7.0 
1: 8.0 



154 1: 5-4 

161 1: 5.4 

113! 1: 6.0 

115I 1: 7-o 

075 1: 8.0 



1.88 
3-00 
3-50 
4.05 
4.67 



1: 4-o 

1: 5.0 

1:5.5 
1: 6.0 

1:6.5 



110 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

The fattening rations are calculated for 1,000 lbs. live 

weight at the beginning of the fattening. 

Table u gives a list of feedingstuffs in most common 

use in New York State. Column is headed "Dry Matter;" 
column two, " Digestible Protein;" column three, " Diges- 
tible Carbohydrates x (fat x2^;") column four, " Total," 
(which is the sum of two and three) ; column five, " Nutri- 
tive Ratio." In each of these columns is given the com- 
putation of the various food stuffs from one pound up to 
the amount that is likely to be used in compounding any 
rations. In case of the coarse fodders, to save space, the 
increase is made by more than one pound at a time, but 
intermediate amounts can readily be obtained from the 
table if desired. In no case are the calculations for ten 
pounds of a feeding stuff given, as these can be obtained 
at once from the figures for one pound, by simply moving 
the decimal point one place to the right. 

These computations are based upon the table of 
"Average Digestible Nutrients in American Feeding 
Stuffs," given in Prof. W. A. Henry's recent book, " Feeds 
and Feeding." The aim has been to carry the computa- 
tion involved in formulating rations as near completion as 
possible, and to present the figures in such simple form 
that no feeder will have difficulty in comparing the ration 
he is feeding with the standards and correcting it, if nec- 
essary, to conform thereto. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



Ill 



TABLE NO. II. 

Digestible Nutrients in the Stated Amounts of the more 

Common Feeding Stuffs. 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Soiling Fodder ♦ 

Fodder corn, 



i lb. 



5 lbs 

20 

25 
30 

35 
40 



Peas and Oats, 1 lb. 

5 lbs 
« I5 „ 

10 " 

" 25 •' 

" 35 " 
" 40 " 



Peas and Barley 

Practically the same 1 
Peas and Oats. 



Red Clover, 



1 lb.. 
5 lbs. 
5 " • 



20 

25 
30 

35 
40 



Alfalfa, 



1 lb. 

5 lbs. 
5 



20 

25 
30 
35 
40 



Total 

Dry 

Matter 



Pounds ol Digestible 
Nutrients 



Protein. 



.20 
I .00 

3.00 
4.00 
5.00 
6.00 
7.50 
8.00 

.16 
.80 
2.40 
3.20 
4.00 
4.80 

5- 

6.40 

.16 



.20 
i-45 
4-35 
5.80 
7.25 
8.70 
10.15 
11.60 

.28 
1 .40 
4.20 
5.60 
7.00 
8.40 
9.80 
11 .20 



.010 

.050 
.150 
.200 
.250 
.300 

•350 
.400 

.018 

.OQO 

.270 
.360 

.450 
.540 
.630 

.720 
.017 



029 

145 

435 

580 

725 
870 
015 
160 

039 
195 

585 
780 

975 
170 

365 
560 



.076 
.380 
1 . 140 
1.520 
1.900 
2.280 
2.660 
3.040 

.077 



. 164 
.820 
2.460 
3.280 
4. 100 
4.920 
5.740 
6.560 

.138 
.690 
2.070 
2.760 
3.450 
4.140 
4.830 
5.520 



Carbohy- 




drates 4- 




(fat X 


Total 


225). 




.125 


■135 


.625 


.675 


I.875 


2.025 


2.500 


2.700 


3-125 


3-375 


3.750 


4.050 


4.375 


4.725 


5.000 


5.400 



.094 
.470 

1. 410 

1.880 
2.350 

2.820 
3.290 

3.760 
.094 



193 

065 

895 
860 
825 
790 

755 
720 

177 
885 

655 

540 

425 
310 

105 
080 



Nutritive 
Ratio. 



1:12.5 



1: 4.2 



1: 4-5 



1:5.6 



1:3.5 



112 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Hungarian Grass, i lb. . 

5 lbs 

" 15 " 
20 " 

25 " 
30 " 

" 35 " 
40 " 



Corn Silage 



1 lb . 

5 lbs 
15 " 
20 " 
25 " 

30 M 

35 " 
40 " 

45 " 
50 " 



Roots and Tubers. 

Potatoes, 1 lb . . 

5 lbs . 

15 " . 

" 20 " . 

" 25 " . 



Beet, mangel, 1 lb. . 

S lbs. 

15 " . 

« << 2Q u ^ 

25 " . 

^O " . 



Beet Sugar 



1 lb.. 

5 lbs. 
15 " . 
20 " . 
25 " . 
30 " . 



Total 

Dry 

Matter. 



Pounds of Digestible 
Nutrients 



Protein. 



29 

1-45 
4-35 

5.80 

7.25 

8.70 

10. 15 

11.60 



1.05 
3.15 

4.20 

5.25 

6.30 

7.35 
8.40 

9.45 

10.50 



1.05 
3.15 

4.20 

5-25 

.09 

•45 

1-35 

1.80 

2.25 
2.70 

•13 
.65 

1.95 
2.60 

3-25 
3.90 



.020 
. 100 
.300 
.400 
.500 
.600 
.700 
.800 

.009 
.045 

.135 
.180 
.225 
.270 

.315 
.360 
.405 
.450 



.009 

.045 

.135 
.180 

.225 

.011 

.055 
.165 
.220 

.275 
• 330 

.01 1 
.055 
.165 
.220 

.275 
•330 



Carboh_ 

drates + 

(fat X 

2.25). 



. 169 
.845 
2.535 
3-38o 
4.225 
5.070 

5915 
6.760 

.129 
.645 

1-935 
2.580 
3.225 
3.870 

4.515 
5.160 
5.805 
6.450 



.165 

.825 

2.475 
3-300 
4.125 

.056 

.280 

.840 

1 . 120 

1 .400 

1.680 

.104 
.520 
1.560 
2.080 
2.600 
3.120 



Total 



.189 

•945 

2.835 

3.780 

4.725 
5.670 
6.615 
7.500 

.138 
.690 
2.070 
2.760 
3450 
4.140 
4.830 
5.520 
6.210 

6.900 



.174 
.870 

2.610 

3.480 
4.350 

.067 

•335 
1 .005 
1.340 
1.675 
2.010 

.115 

•575 
1.725 

2.300 
2.875 
3450 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



"3 



TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Total 

Dry 

Matter 



Pounds of Digestible 
Nutrients 



Protein. 



Carbohy- 
drates -t 
Cfat V 
225;. 



Nutritive 
Ratio. 



Total 



Carrot, 1 lb. 
5 lbs 

15 '« . 
20 " . 
25 " . 
30 " . 



Hay and Straw. 

Timothy, 1 lb. . 

« ' 3 lbs. 

5 " . 

7 « . 



Mixed Grasses and 
Clover, 1 lb 



3 lbs. 
5 " • 



9 
12 

15 



Hungarian hay, 1 lb. . 
" 3 lbs. 

<( U r M 

«< << « «( 

" s " ! 
m 12 u . 



Red Clover hav, 



lb., 



. 1 1 

•55 

2.20 
2-75 
3-30 



.87 
2.61 

4-35 

6.09 

6.96 

7.83 

10.44 

13-05 

15.66 

17.40 



•87 
2.61 

4-35 

6.09 

6.96 

7.83 

10.44 

13-05 

15.66 

17.40 

.92 
2.76 
4.60, 

6.44 
7-36 

8.28 
11.04 



.85 



.008 
.040 
. 120 
. 160 
.200 
.240 



.028 
.084 
.140 
. 196 
.224 
.252 
.336 
.420 
.504 
.560 



.062 

.186 
.310 

• 434 
.496 
-558 

• 744 
•93o 

1. 116 
1 .240 

-045 
•135 

.225 

3*5 

.360 
.405 

.540 

.068 



.465 




•395 


1 


•325 


2. 


•255 


3- 


.720 


3- 


.185 ; 


4- 


580 


5- 


975 


7- 


370 


8. 


.300 


9- 



.082 
.410 i 

I .230 I 
1.640 ; 
2.050 
2.460 



.460 

1. 381 

2.300 

3.220 

3.680 
4.140 

5.520 

6.900 

8.280 

9 . 200 

.546 
1.638 
2.730 
3.822 
4.368 

4.9U 
6.552 



. 090 
.450 
1.350 
1 .800 
2.250 
2.700 



493 
479 
465 

45i 
944 

437 

916 

395 
874 
860 



.522 
1 . 566 
2.610 
3.654 
4.176 
4.698 
6 . 264 
7.830 

9.396 

10.440 

•59' 
1-773 
2-955 
4-137 
4.728 

5-3^9 
7.092 



1:10.3 



1:16.6 



1: 7.4 



1:12. 



•396 



.464 



H4 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Total 

Dry 

Matter. 



Pounds of Digestible 
Nutrients 





Carbohy- 




drates + 


rotein. 


(fat X 




2.25). 


.204 


I. Il8 


.340 


I.980 


.476 


2.772 


• 544 


3.168 


.612 


3.564 


.816 


4.752 


I .020 


5.940 


1.224 


7.128 


I.360 


7.920 


. HO 


•423 


•330 


I.269 


.550 


2. 115 


.770 


2.961 


.880 


3.384 


.99O 


3.807 


1.320 


5.076 


I .650 


6-345 


I.980 


7.614 


2.200 


8.460 


.025 


•373 


.125 


I.865 


.200 


2.984 


.300 


4.476 


•375 


5-595 


.450 


6.714 


.500 


7.460 


.017 


•340 


.085 


I .720 


.136 


2.720 


.204 


4.080 


.255 


5. 160 


.306 


6. 120 


.340 


6.880 


.043 


.341 


.129 


1.023 


.215 


1.705 


•344 


2.728 


• Sio 


4.092 


.645 


5. 115 



Nutritive 
Ratio. 



Total 



Red Clover hay 3 lbs. 

5 " 



9 
12 

15 
18 
20 

Alfalfa hay, 1 lb. 
3 lbs... 

5 

7 



9 
12 

15 
18 
20 



Corn Fodder, 1 lb . 

5 lbs 



it it T -p " 

II Jg l< 

« 2Q II 

Corn Stover, 1 lb.. 
5 lbs. 



12 M 

15 « 
18 " 
20 " 



Pea-vine Straw, 1 lb. 
3 lbs. 

5 « 

8 " 
n I2 u 

,1 15 " 



2.55 
4.25 

5-Q5 
6.80 
7.65 
10.20 
12.75 
15.30 
17.00 

.92 

2.76 

4.60 

6.44 

7.36 

8.28 

11 .04 

13.80 

16.56 

18.40 

.58 
2.90 
4.64 
6.96 
8.70 

10.44 
11.60 

.60 
3.00 
4.80 
7.20 
9.00 
10.80 
12.00 



2.58 

4.30 

6." 

10.32 

12.90 



1.392 
2.320 
3.248 
3.712 
4.176 
5.568 
6.960 
8.352 
9.280 

•533 
1.599 
2.665 

3-731 
4.264 

4.797 
6.396 

7-995 

9-594 

10.660 

.398 
1.990 

3.184 
4.776 
5.970 
7.164 
7.960 

•357 
1.785 
2.856 
4.284 

5-355 
6.426 
7.140 

.384 
1. 152 
1 .920 
3.072 
4.608 
5.760 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 

TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



"5 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Total 

Dry 

Matter. 



Pounds of Digestible 
Nutrients 







Carbohy- 


Protein. 


drates + 
(fat X 




225). 


.004 


•372 


.012 


I .Ol6 


.020 


1.860 


.032 


2.976 


.048 


4.064 


.060 


5.580 


.012 


.404 


.036 


I .212 


.060 


2.020 


.O96 


3-232 


.144 


4.848 


.180 


6.060 


.079 


.764 




I 5 8 


1.528 




237 


2.292 




316 


3.O56 




395 


3.820 




474 


4.584 




5 S3 


5.348 




632 


6. 112 




711 


6.876 




102 


.730 




204 


1 .460 




306 


2. 190 




408 


2.920 




510 


3.650 




612 


4.380 




099 


.700 




198 


1 .400 




2Q7 


2. 100 




396 


2.800 




495 


3.500 




594 


4.200 




087 


.692 




174 


1.384 



Nutritive 
Ratio. 



Total 



Wheat straw, 1 lb. 
3 lbs 



Oat straw, 



Grain ♦ 

Corn 



(av.) 



12 
15 

1 lb.. 
3 lbs 

5 " 

8 " 

12 " 

15 " 

1 lb.. 

2 lbs. 

3 " • 

4 " • 

5 " • 

6 " . 

7 " • 



Wheat, 1 lb... 

2 lbs. 

3 " • 

4 " . 

5 " . 

6 " . 



Rye, 1 lb.. 

2 lbs. 



Barley, 1 lb. . 
2 lbs. 



.90 

2.70 

4.50 

7.20 

10.80 

13-50 

.91 

2-73 

4-55 

7.28 

10.92 

I3-65 



1.78 
2.67 
3.56 
4.45 
5-34 
6.23 
7.12 
8.01 

.90 
1.80 
2.70 
3.60 
4.50 
5.40 



1.76 
2.64 

3.52 
4.40 
5.28 

.89 
1.78 



•376 
1. 128 
1.880 
3.008 
4.512 
5.640 

.416 
1.248 
2.080 
3.328 
4.992 
6.240 



.843 
1.686 
2.529 

3-372 
4.215 
5.058 
5.901 
6.744 
7.587 

.832 
1.664 
2.496 
3.328 
4.160 
4.992 

-799 
1.598 
2-397 
3.196 

3-995 
4-794 

•779 
1.558 



1-93- 



i:33. 



1:9.7 



1:7.2 



1:7.1 



1:7.9 



n6 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Total 

Dry 

Matter. 



Pounds of Digestible 
Nutrients 





Carbohy- 


Protein. 


drates + 
(fat X 




2.25). 


.261 


2.076 


.348 


2.768 


•435 


3.460 


.522 


4.152 


.092 


.568 


.184 


1. 136 


.276 


1.704 


.368 


2.272 


.460 


2.840 


.552 


3.408 


•644 


3.976 


•736 


4-544 


.828 


5. 112 


1. 104 


6.816 


1.380 


8.520 


.077 


•533 


.154 


I .066 


.231 


1-599 


.308 


2.132 


.38S 


2.665 


.462 


3.I98 


•539 


3.731 


.616 


4.264 


.693 


4.797 


.168 


•534 


.336 


1.068 


.504 


I .602 


.672 


2. I36 


.840 


2.67O 


1 .008 


3.204 


1. 176 


3.738 


1-344 


4.272 


1. 512 


4.806 


.044 


.665 


.088 


I-330 


.132 


1.995 



Total 



Baiiev, 3 lbs. 
" 4 " • 

6 " . 



Oats, 



1 lb. 

2 lbs. 

3 " • 

4 " • 

5 " ■ 

6 " . 

7 " • 



9 
12 

15 



Buckwheat, 1 lb. 

2 lbs. 

3 " 

4 " 

5 " 

6 " 

7 " 

8 ■• 

9 " 



Peas, 1 lb. . 

" 2 lbs. 

" 3 " • 

" 5 " . 

" 6 " . 

U y « . 



Mill Products. 

Corn and cob meal, 1 lb.. 

"2 lbs 
3 " 



2.67 
3.56 
4-45 

5.34 

.89 
1.78 
2.67 
3.56 
4.45 
5-34 
6.23 
7. 12 
8.01 
10.68 
13.35 

.87 
1-74 
2.61 
3.48 

4.35 

5.22 
6.09 
6.96 
7.83 

.90 
1.80 
2.70 
3.60 
4.50 
5.40 
6.30 
7.20 
8.10 



.85 
1.70 
2.55 



2.337 
3. 116 

3.895 
4.674 

.660 
1.320 
1.980 
2.640 
3-3oo 
3.960 
4.620 
5.280 
5.940 
7.920 
9.900 

.610 
1.220 
1.830 
2.440 
3.050 
3.660 
4.270 
4.880 
5.490 

.702 
1.404 
2. 106 
2.808 
3.5io 
4.212 

4.9U 
5.616 
6.318 



.709 
1. 418 

2. 127 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 

TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



117 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Total 

Dry 

Matter. 



Pounds of Digestible 
Nutrients 



Protein. 



Carbohy 

drates + 

(fat X 

225). 



Nutritive 
Ratio. 



Total 



Corn and cob meal, 4 lbs. 

5 " ■ 

6 " . 

7 " - 



9 
12 



Wheat bran, 1 lb.. . 
" 2 lbs. 
" 3 " ■ 
" 4 " • 

11 6 " . 
"- 7 " . 



Wheat middlings, 1 lb. 
2 lbs. 
3 
4 
5 
6 

7 



Dark feeding flour, 1 lb. 

2 lb 

3 " 

4 « 

5 " 

6 " 

7 " 

8 " 

9 « 

Low grade flour, 1 lb ... . 
2 lbs... 

*;■ " 3 " ... 



3-40 

4.25 
5.10 

5-95 

6.80 

7.65 

10.20 



1.76 
2.64 
3-52 
4.40 
5.28 
6.16 

7.04 
7.92 

.88 
1.76 
2.64 
3.52 
4.40 
5.28 
6.16 
7.04 
7.92 

.90 
1.80 
2.70 
3.60 
4.50 
5.40 
6.30 
7.20 
8.10 



1.76 
2.64 



.176 
.220 
.264 
.308 
.352 
.396 
.528 

.122 
.244 
.366 
.488 
.610 
.732 
.854 
.976 
1 .098 

.128 
.256 

.384 
.512 
.640 
.768 
.896 
1.024 
1. 152 

•135 
.270 
.405 
.540 
.675 
.810 

•945 
1.080 
1. 215 

.082 
.164 
.246 



2.660 
3.325 
3-990 
4.655 
5.320 

5.985 
7.980 

•453 
.906 

1-359 
1. 812 
2.265 
2.718 

3-i7i 
3.624 
4.077 

.607 
1 .214 
1. 821 

2.428 

3-035 
3.642 

4.249 
4.856 
5-463 

.658 
1. 316 
1.974 

2.632 
3.290 
3.948 
4.606 
5.264 
5.922 

.647 
1.294 
1. 941 



2.836 

3.545 
4.254 

4.963 
5.672 
6.381 
8.508 

•575 
1. 150 

1.725 
2.300 
2.875 
3.450 
4.025 
4.600 
5.175 

•735 
1.470 
2.205 
2.940 

3.675 
4.410 

5.145 
5.880 
6.615 

• 793 
1.586 

2.379 
3.172 

3-965 
4.758 
5.551 
6.344 
7.137 

.729 
1.458 
2.187 



f.3.7 



1:4.7 



1:4.9 



1:7.9 



ri8 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



TABLE 


NO. II.— Continued. 










Pounds of Digestible 








Nutrients 








Total 








Kind and Amount of Feed. 


Dry 
Matter. 




Carbohy- 




Nutritive 
Ratio. 






Protein. 


drates -j- 
(fat X 
225). 


Total 




Low grade flour, 4 lbs. . . . 


3-52 


.328 


2.588 


2.916 




5 " .... 


4.40 


..410 


3-235 


3.645 




6 " .... 


5.28 


•*492 


3.882 


4-374 




7 " .... 


6.16 


•574 


4.529 


5.103 




8 " .... 


7.04 


.656 


5.176 


5.832 




9 " .... 


7.92 


•738 


5-823 


6.561 




Rye bran, 1 lb 


.88 


.115 


.548 


.663 


1:4.8 


" " 2 lbs 


1.76 


. .230 


I.O96 


I.326 




" 3 " 


2.64 


•345 


I.644 


I.989 




4 " 


3-52 


.460 


2. I92 


2.652 




" 5 " .■••■ 


4.40 


•575 


2.740 


3-315 




" 6 " 


5.28 


.690 


3.288 


3-978 




" 7 " 


6.16 


.805 


3.836 


4.641 




" 8 " 


7.04 


.920 


4.384 


5.304 




9 " 


7.92 


1.035 


4.952 


5.967 




Buckwheat bran, 1 lb 


.90 


.074 


•347 


.421 


1:4.7 


" 2 lbs.... 


1.80 


.148 


.694 


.842 




" 3 " .... 


2.70 


.222 


1. 04 1 


I.263 




" 4 " ... 


3.60 


.296 


I.388 


I.684 




" 5 "... . 


4.50 


•370 


1-735 


2.105 




" 6 " .... 


5.40 


• 444 


2.082 


2.526 




» 7 "... . 


6.30 


.518 


2.429 


2.847 




" 8 "... . 


7.20 


.592 


2.776 


3.368 




" 9 "... . 


8.10 


.666 


3.123 


3.789 




Buckwh't middlings, 1 lb. 


.87 


.220 


.456 


.676 


i:2.I 


2 lbs. 


1-74 


.440 


.912 


1-352 




3 " 


2.61 


.660 


1.368 


2.028 




4 k< 


3.48 


.880 


1.824 


2.704 




5 M 


4-35 


1 . 100 


2.280 


3.380 




6 " 


5.22 


1.320 


2.736 


4.056 




it <( ^ << 


6.09 


1.540 


3.192 


4.732 




8 " 


6.96 


1 .760 


3.648 


5.408 




9 " 


7-83 


1 .980 


4.104 


6.084 




Rye-Products. 












Malt sprouts, 1 lb 


.90 


.186 


.409 


•595 


i:2.2 


2 lbs 


1.80 


•372 


.818 


I . IQO 




3 " 


2.70 


.558 


1 .227 


1.785 




4 4< 


3.60 


• 744 


1.636 


2.380 




5 " 


4.50 


.930 


2.045 


2.975 





BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 

TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



119 



Kind and Amount of Feed. 



Total 

Dry 

Matter. 


Pounds of Digestible 
Nutrients 


Protein. 


Carbohy- 
drates + 
(fat X 

2.25). 


Total 



Nutritive 
Ratio. 



Malt sprouts, 6 lbs. . 

7 " •• 

8 " . 

9 " •• 
Brewer's grains, wet 



Brewer's 



lb. 
lbs. 



2 

3 " 

4 " 

5 " 

6 " 

7 " 

8 " 

9 " 

11 " 

12 " 

15 " 

grains, dry 1 lb. 

" 2 lbs 

" 3 " 

" 4 " 

" 5 " 

" 6 " 

«« 7 « 



Gluten feed* 



Gluten meal 



1 lb.. 

2 lbs. 

3 " • 

4 " • 

5 " • 

6 " . 

7 " • 

8 (< . 

1 lb.. 

2 lbs. 

3 " • 

4 " . 

5 " • 



5.40 


1. 116 


2.454 


3-570 


6.30 


1.302 


2.863 


4.165 


7.20 


1.488 


3.272 


4.760 


8.10 


1.674 


3.681 


5-355 


.24 


.039 


.125 


.164 


.48 


.078 


.250 


.328 


.72 


.117 


•375 


.492 


.96 


.i S 6 


.500 


.656 


1 .20 


.195 


.625 


.820 


1.44 


.234 


.750 


.984 


1.68 


.273 


.875 


1. 148 


1.92 


.312 


1 .000 


1. 312 


2. 16 


•35i 


1. 125 


1.476 


2.64 


.429 


1-375 


1 .804 


2.88 


.468 


1 .500 


1.968 


3.60 


.585 


1.875 


2.460 


.92 


•157 


.478 


•635 


1.84 


•3H 


.956 


1.270 


2.76 


• 471 


1-434 


1.905 


3.68 


.628 


1 .912 


2.540 


4.60 


.785 


2.390 


3.175 


5.52 


.942 


2.868 


3.810 


6.44 


1 .099 


3-346 


4-445 


7-36 


1 .256 


3.824 


5.080 


8.28 


1. 4i3 


4.302 


5.715 


.92 


.194 


.633 


.827 


1.84 


.388 


1 .266 


1.654 


2.76 


.S82 


1.899 


2.481 


3.68 


.776 


2.^32 


3-308 


4.60 


.970 


3.165 


4.135 


5-52 


1 . 164 


3.798 


4.962 


6.44 


1.358 


4.431 


5.789 


7.36 


1.552 


5.064 


6.616 


.92 


.258 


.656 


• 9U 


1.84 


.516 


1. 312 


1.828 


2.76 


• 774 


1.968 


2.742 


3.68 


1 .032 


2.624 


3.656 


4.60 


1 .290 


3.280 


4.570 



1:3.2 



1:3 



1.3.3 



1:2.5 



•From Bulletin of Information No. 1, Penna. State College. 



120 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 







Pounds of Digestible 






Total 

Dry 

Matter. 


Nutrients 






Kind and Amount of Feed. 




Carbohy- 




Nutritive 
Ratio. 






Protein. 


drates + 
(fat X 

225). 


Total 




Gluten meal 6 lbs 


5-52 


1.548 


3.936 


5.484 




7 " 


6.44 


I.806 


4.592 


6.398 




8 " 


7.36 


2.064 


5.248 


7.312 




Hominy chop I lb 


.89 


.075 


.705 


.780 


1:9.4 


" 2 lbs 


1.78 


.150 


1. 410 


I.560 




3 " 


2.67 


.225 


2. I 15 


2.340 




4 " 


3.56 


.300 


2.820 


3.120 




5 " 


4-45 


•375 


3.525 


3.9OO 




6 " 


5-34 


.450 


4.230 


4.680 




7 " 


6.23 


.525 


4.935 


5.460 




8 " 


7. 12 


.600 


5.64O 


6.240 




9 " 


8.01 


.675 


6.345 


7.020 




Linseed meal 












(old process), i lb 


.91 


•293 


.485 


.778 


i:i.7 


" " 2 lbs. . . . 


1.82 


.586 


.970 


1.556 




3 "... . 


2-73 


.879 


1-455 


2.334 




4 " 


3.64 


1. 172 


1.940 


3 . 112 




5 " .... 


4-55 


I.465 


2.425 


3.89O 




6 "... . 


5.46 


1.758 


2.910 


4.668 




7 "... . 


6.37 


2.051 


3-395 


5.446 




Linseed meal 












(new process, i lb 


.90 


.282 


.464 


.746 


I-.I.6 


" " 2 lbs 


1.80 


.564 


.928 


1.492 




3 ".... 


2.70 


.846 


1.392 


2.238 




4 « ... 


3.60 


1. 128 


1.856 


2.984 




5 " .... 


' 4.50 


1. 410 


2.320 


3.730 




6 " ... 


5.40 


I.692 


2.784 


4.476 




7 " .... 


6.30 


1-974 


3.248 


5.232 




Cotton-seed meal, i lb. . . . 


.92 


•372 


.444 


.8l6 


I-.I.2 


" 2 lbs... 


1.84 


•744 


.888 


I.632 




" 3 "■:.. 


2.76 


1. 116 


1-332 


2.448 




" 4 " ... 


3.68 


1.488 


1.776 


3.264 




(4 «( ^ (( 


4.60 


1.860 


2.220 


4.080 




" 6 " '.!! 


5-52 


2.232 


2.664 


4.896 




" 7 " ... 


6.44 


2.604 


3.008 


5.712 




11 8 " ... 


7.36 


2.976 


3.552 


6.528 




o " . . . 


8.28 


3.348 


3-996 


7-344 





BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 

TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 



121 







Pounds of Dig 


sstible 








Nutrients 






Total 

Dry 

Matter. 








Kind and Amount of Feed. 




Carbohy- 




Nutritive 
Ratio. 






Protein. 


drates -+- 
(fat X 

2.25). 


Total 




Miscellaneous. 

Cabbage, i lb 


.15 


.018 


.091 


. 109 


1:5.1 




5 lbs 


•75 


.ogo 


•455 


•545 






15 " 


2.25 


.270 


I.365 


1.635 






20 " 


3.00 


.360 


1.820 


2.l8o 






25 " 


3-75 


.450 


2.275 


2.725 






30 " 


4.50 


.540 


2.730 


3.270 






35 " 


5.25 


.630 


3.185 


3.815 




40 " 


6. co 


.720 


3.640 


4.360 




Sugar beet leaves, lib... 


. 12 


.017 


.051 


.068 




5 lbs.. 


.60 


.085 


.255 


•340 




15 " .. 


1.80 


.255 


.765 


1.020 




20 " ... 


2.40 


.340 


1.020 


I.360 




.< 25 « ^ 


3.00 


.425 


1.275 


1.700 




ti 30 " . . 


3.60 


.510 


1.530 


2.040 




u 35 „ ' 


4.20 


•595 


1.785 


2.380 




" 40 " . . 


4.80 


.680 


2.040 


2.720 




Sugar beet pulp, 1 lb. . . . 


. 10 


.006 


•073 


.079 


1:12 


5 lbs... 


.50 


.030 


.365 


•395 




" 15 « ... 


1.50 


.090 


I.O95 


I. 185 




" 20 " ... 


2.00 


. 120 


I .460 


I.580 




" 25 " ... 


5.20 


.150 


I.825 


1.975 




" 30 " ... 


3.00 


.180 


2. I90 


2.370 




" 35 " ... 


3-50 


.210 


2-555 


2.765 




" " 40 " . . . 


4.00 


.240 


2.920 


2. l6o 




Beet molasses, 1 lb 


•79 


.091 


•595 


• .686 


1:6.5 


2 lbs 


1.58 


.182 


I. I90 


1.372 




3 " 


2-37 


.273 


I.785 


2.058 




4 " 


3.16 


.364 


2.380 


2.744 




5 " 


3-95 


•455 


2.975 


3-430 




6 " 


4-74 


.546 


3-570 


4. 116 




7 " 


5-53 


.637 


4.165 


4.802 




8 " 


6.32 


.728 


4.760 


5.488 




9 " 


7. 11 


.819 


5-355 


6.174 




Apple Pomace, 1 lb* 


2.33 


.011 


.164 


.175 


1:14.9 


5 lbs.... 


1. 165 


•055 


.820 


.875 




15 " .... 


3-495 


.165 


2.460 


2.625 




20 " . . . . 


4.660 


.220 


3.280 


3.500 





*From Bulletin of Information No. 1, Penna. State College. 



122 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

TABLE NO. II.— Continued. 







Pounds of Dig( 


;stible 








Nutrients 








Total 

Dry 

M atter. 








Kind and Amount of Feed. 




Carbohy- 




Nutritive 
Ratio. 






Protein. 


drates + 
(fat X 

225). 


Total 




Apple pomace, 25 lbs 


5.825 


.275 


4. IOO 


4-375 




30 « .... 


6.990 


.330 


4.920 


5.250 




35 " .... 


8.155 


.385 


5.740 


6.125 




" " 40 " 


9.320 


.440 


6.560 


7.000 




Skim milk gravity, lib... 


.096 


.031 


.065 


.096 


1:2.5 


5 lbs.. 


.480 


.155 


.325 


.480 




8 " .. 


.768 


.248 


.520 


.768 




12 " .. 


1. 152 


•372 


.780 


1. 152 




15 «• .. 


1.440 


.465 


•975 


1.440 




20 " . . 


I.920 


.620 


1.300 


1.920 




25 " .. 


2.400 


•775 


1.625 


2.400 




30 " .. 


2.880 


•930 


1.950 


2.880 




Skim milk centrifugal, 1 lb. 


.094 


.029 


.059 


.088 


I-.2 


5 lbs. 


.470 


.145 


.295 


.440 




8 " 


.752 


.232 


.472 


.704 




12 " 


1.128 


.348 


.708 


1.056 




15 " 


1. 410 


•435 


.885 


1.320 




20 " 


I.880 


.580 


1. 180 


1.760 




25 " 


2.350 


.725 


1-475 


2.200 


v 


30 " 


2.820 


.870 


1.770 


2.620 




Buttermilk, 1 lb 


. 10 


•039 
.195 


.065 
.325 


. 104 


i:l.7 


5 lbs ...... . 


.50 


.520 


8 " 


.80 


.312 


.520 


.832 




<: 12 " 


I .20 


.468 


.780 


1 .248 




i5 " 


1.50 


.585 


•975 


1.560 




20 " 


2.00 


.780 


1.300 


2.080 




25 " 


2.50 


•975 


1.625 


2.600 




30 " 


3.00 


1 . 170 


1.950 


3.120 





To illustrate how these tables may be used, we will 
examine a system of feeding which the writer observed 
the present season in a certain section of the state, and 
was told was quite extensively practiced. The section 
referred to is devoted almost exclusively to dairying, and 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 123 

timothy hay constitutes the greater portion of the coarse 
fodder during the feeding season. Oats are about the 
only grain grown. Corn is purchased and ground with 
the oats, in about equal weights, to make "chop" which 
is fed with the hay. The cows will not greatly vary from 
1,000 pounds live weight. While these cows are in full 
flow of milk in the spring before pasture is ready, they 
are fed about 20 pounds of hay and 8 pounds of chop per 
day. Turning to the tables we find that 20 pounds of hay, 
4 pounds of oats and 4 pounds of corn contain digestible 
nutrients as follows: 

Dry Nutritive 

Matter. Protein. C. H. and Fat. Total Ratio. 

20 lbs. hay 17.40 .560 9.300 9.860 

4 lbs. oats 3.56 .368 2.772 2.640 

4lbs.c0m 3.56 .316 3.056 3.372 

Total 24.52 1.244 14.628 15.872 1:11.7 

Wolff's Standard 24.00 2.5 13.4 15.9 1:5.4 

Upon comparison of the nutrients furnished by this 
ration with Wolff's standard as given in Table I, it is dis- 
covered that while the dry matter and total nutrients are 
not far out of the way, the protein is much too small, the 
carbohydrates and fat are somewhat too great, while the 
nutritive ratio is far too wide. 

This result might readily have been foreseen had we 
paused a moment to note the nutritive ratio of each of the 
three foods entering into the ration. They are, timothy 
hay, 1:16.6; oats, 1:6.2; corn, 1:9.7. Neither of them is as 
narrow as the standard, and it is impossible to combine 
them into a ration that is approximately balanced. As 
corn is a purchased product the natural suggestion is that 



124 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

the corn should be replaced by some food having a high 
proportion of protein, or in other words, a very narrow, 
nutritive ratio. Consulting the table, it is found that 
among such are linseed meal, cottonseed meal, gluten feed, 
malt sprouts, buckwheat, middlings, etc. As buckwheat 
middlings is a New York State product and can readily be 
put in stock during the winter, it is suggested to substitute 
it for the corn in the ration. Again taking the figures 
from the table we have: 

Dry Matter. Protein. C. H. and Fat. Total. 

20 lbs. timothy hay 1740 .560 9-300 9.860 

4 lbs. oats 3.56 .368 2.272 2.640 

4 lbs. buckwheat mid's 3.48 .880 1.824 2.704 

Total 24.44 1-808 13.396 15.204 

Nutritive ratio 1:7.4 

While this ration is much improved over the previous 
one and will produce a much freer flow of milk it is still 
to wide to produce the best results. 

If the timothy hay is reduced two pounds, and two 
pounds of cottonseed meal put in its place we get: 

Dry Matter. Protein. C. H. and Fat. Total 

18 lbs. timothy hay 15.66 .504 8.370 8.874 

4 lbs oats 3.56 .368 2.272 2.640 

4 lbs. buckwheat mid's 3.48 .880 1.824 2.704 

2 lbs. cotton seed meal 1.84 .744 -888 1.632 

Total 24.54 2.496 13.354 15850 

Nutritive ratio 1:5.3 

This ration corresponds very closely to the standard, 
and while the purchase of the cottonseed meal will add 
somewhat to the expense still it is the experience of care- 






BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 125 

ful feeders that the increased production will abundantly 
pay for thus securing a proper balance to the ration. 

The same result may be obtained by using other feed- 
ing stuffs having a narrow nutritive ratio. The question 
is likely to be raised, which of the various feeding stuffs 
offered in the market may most economically be used in 
supplementing the home grown foods to produce a bal- 
anced ration? This question is best answered by formu- 
lating properly balanced rations containing each of the 
foods under consideration, and by assigning the actual 
market value per pound to each of the constituents of the 
ration, its cost is readily ascertained and the cheapest 
may be selected. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
ECONOMICAL FEEDING. 

It is plain that the stockman who secures the greatest 
results from a given amount of feed, or feed of a given 
value, will make the greatest profits from his labors. As 
hinted in the preceding chapter, feed has several func- 
tions to perform. Its first is, to maintain vital action, to 
keep the body in condition to merely live; its second is to 
produce energy whereby the animal may move about or 
perform labor; its third is, to add to the weight of the ani- 
mal, giving it greater size and more strength. This func- 
tion of food is called into action only until the animal has 
reached mature age, after which it stops increasing in 
size as to bones, sinews and intestines. At any time dur- 
ing the period of growth, when an animal is fed enough 
to supply its needs in every direction, it continues to grow 
and thrive, if in good health. If during this time any sur- 
plus above its wants for these purposes is given to it, the 
surplus food is stored in the body in the shape of fat. 

One fact should be remembered: If an animal is fed 
more protein than it needs the surplus is stored in fat, but 
if it is fed more of the carbohydrates than it needs, the 
surplus never goes to make up for any lack of protein in ara- 
tion,but if too little is fed the animal will never reach the size 
nor possess the strength or nervous force it would if the ra- 
tion had been properly balanced. The only reason why we 

do not feed protein altogether is, that feeds rich in this sub- 

126 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 127 

stance are always high-priced, and it is cheaper to feed 
just enough protein for the best interest of the animal and 
feed the cheaper carbohydrates to furnish vital energy 
and to keep up animal heat. A reference to the table in 
the preceding chapter will show this to be true. 

After an animal has matured and reached its full size, 
it will eat as much as it didjwhile growing^notwithstanding, 
it has ceased to grow in the sense of adding to its stature. 
If we continue to feed the same quantity as when grow- 
ing the animal will begin to fill out and grow plump, con- 
stantly increasing in weight. The muscles (lean meat) 
will become full and round and the tissues of the body 
and the intestines will begin to get fat, this fat being 
stored energy from the surplus furnished by the feed. 

Before we can receive any direct benefit from feed we 
must supply enough to keep up the vital waste which is 
constantly going on in all animate bodies. This waste is 
caused by the consumption of feed in maintaining animal 
heat. The feed thus used is burned exactly as if it would 
be if thrown into the furnace, only much more slowly. 
The process by which it is burned is not very different 
from that of burning it in a furnace. It is taken into the 
stomach, digested and absorbed by the proper organs. It 
is then carried to the lungs, and through them comes into 
contact with the oxygen of the air, and it is then oxygen- 
ation that makes it possible for any living body to keep 
up the animal heat. It is a fire without a flame, but it 
must be kept burning every second, or life becomes 
extinct almost at once. 



128 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Almost everyone has noticed that during a severe cold 
spell of weather it seems warmer in a spot sheltered from 
the wind than it does where the cutting blasts have free 
sweep. Very frequently it is noted that the thermom- 
eter which hangs in a sheltered place indicates a temper- 
ature just as low as another one exposed to the fury of the 
winter winds. This proves that the difference in temper- 
ature between a sheltered place and an unsheltered one 
is merely a seeming difference so far as absolute temper- 
ature is concerned, apart from any other consideration. 

The reason for this is plain to the thinking man. The 
heat of the body is constantly being thrown off into the 
air surrounding us. If this were not true, we could never 
have the sensation of feeling cold. If we stand in a place 
where the air is in constant motion, the vital heat is not 
greater than it is in the warmest house, but as soon as this 
heat escapes from the body it is carried away, cold air 
constantly replacing it, and we soon have the sensation 
of cold. 

If, on the contrary, we stand in some building where 
theair is quiet, no currents flowing here and there, the heat 
thrown off from the body is not carried away, and soon 
we are enveloped in an invisible suit of air that has been 
warmed by our own bodies, and we do not feel the cold so 
keenly. It is a well-known fact that dead air, that is, air 
that is so confined that it cannot move freely, is one of 
the best non-conductors of heat and cold known. It is 
because the air in a building is confined that it does not 
conduct the heat away from the body, and as a conse- 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. I29 

quence we do not need to use so much of the food as we 
have eaten to maintain the necessary heat in our bodies. 
The Eskimo eats seal blubber and looks upon tallow can- 
dles as the daintiest of luxuries because his body must be 
supplied with heat-producing food in order to combat the 
cold of his native place, while the African savage eats 
fruits, melons and other non-heating foods because he 
does not need them under a tropical sun. 

Because all these things are true, it follows that it is a 
matter of economy to provide shelter for our animals, if 
we would be economical in feeding them, and get the 
greatest possible results from the feed they consume. 

It is a common saying, ''Well fed is half bred," and in 
a large measure that is true. No matter how well bred 
an animal maybe it will not grow into excellence unless 
it is properly fed and sheltered. It is just as true that an 
animal of no particular breeding has good qualities and 
attains to good size because it has been fed and cared for 
by a painstaking and intelligent breeder. 

Comfortable shelter for all the animals on the farm is 
one of the requisites of the highest success, and one of no 
inconsiderable importance. Economical feeding is impos- 
sible where the animals fed are subject to the changes of 
the weather from the burning heat of summer to the rig- 
orous cold of winter. Shade and shelter are as necessary 
in their way as feed and water, but because animals live 
without them and have not the power to complain, they 
are often — too often — neglected, although their owners 
lose money by neglecting to furnish these things to them. 



130 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Economical feeding does not always indicate that a 
perfectly balanced ration must be fed. There are condi- 
tions under which a balanced ration is more costly than 
one with a wide nutritive ratio. The farmer in the great 
"corn belt" of this country who can produce corn at less 
than it can be produced in any other section in the world 
is very frequently justified in feeding a wide ration. 

He may have timothy hay, corn stover and corn to 
feed that cost him a low price, counting the labor 
expended in growing and harvesting the crops. Other 
feeds may be high or hard to transport to his farm. In 
such a case he could not economically sell his corn, which 
is rich in the carbohydrates, and buy, say wheat bran, 
to balance his feed rations. However, it is very often a 
great advantage to sell from the farm feed that is rich in 
the carbohydrates, and purchase those which are rich 
in protein. 

By studying the tables in the preceding chapter, the 
reader will be enabled to decide such doubtful points for 
himself, taking into account his surroundings and the 
prices that prevail for feeds of various kinds. That which 
produces the most for a given amount is the most eco- 
nomical, whether a balanced ration or not. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
DAIRYING IN A NUTSHELL. 
The following rules make a very complete treatise on 
dairying. They were formulated from papers read by 
the most successful dairymen of Wisconsin at the State 
Farmers' Institute and are the most valuable set of rules 
for dairying ever published. 

SELECTION AND BREEDING. 

1. Select the best cows in your herd, or that you can 
buy, to keep, and dispose of the others. 

2. The best cow for dairy is the one that produces 
the greatest amount of butter fat in a year (for food con- 
sumed), when being rightly fed. 

3. Test your cows by weighing the amount of milk 
for a year and test it occasionally with the Babcoek Milk 
Tester, and know how much butter fat each one does 
produce. 

4. To renew or increase your herd, raise the heifer 
calves from your best cows. 

5. Use the best dairy-bred sire you can get; one, if 
possible, that has a long line of ancestors and have been 
first-class dairy animals. 

6. In this way you can make each generation better 
than the preceding one, if they have at all times proper 
care and feed. 

7. It is neither profitable or necessary for a cow to go 
dry more than four to six weeks. 



132 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

8. Especially should your young cows be watched and 
not allowed to acquire the habit of drying. up too soon. 

9. Darken the stable in which the cows are milked, 
through fly time. It will not only economize the patience 
of the milker, but the cost of the milk production as well. 

10. Keep a record of the time when the cows are bred, 
and have no guess work about the time of calving. 

11. Provide a roomy box-stall, and allow the cows to 
become accustomed to it a week prior to calving. 

12. Bulky food should be withheld a short time prior 
and subsequent to calving. 

13. The udder should receive prompt attention. An 
obstacle may be removed from the teat the first hour, that 
might baffle science later. 

14. A pail of scalded bran should be given to the cow 
as soon as possible after calving. 

15. The calf should be permitted to nurse its mother 
for two or three days. 

16. After separating the calf from its mother, feed 
the natural milk as soon as drawn, for a week or ten days. 

17. Then begin gradually to substitute skim milk with 
oil meal jelly stirred into it. 

18. Scald the calf's feed pail daily. 

19. Peed three times a day and not more than three 
quarts at a time until the calf is well started. 

20. Warm the milk by placing the vessel that con- 
tains the milk in hot water. 

21. Warm the milk to 90 degrees Farenheit. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 133 

22. Don't trust your finger, but a thermometer. It 
will save many a calfs life. 

23. The man whose ideal of a cow is high, coupled 
with good care, feed and gentleness, is sure to receive the 
highest profit in milk and pleasure that can be made in 
dairying. 

CARE AND FEED. 

24. Begin with the calf to develop the cow. 

25.. Feed the calf liberally on the kinds of food which, 
if given the cow, would be good milk-producing food. 

26. Such food contains a large proportion of nitrogen 
and will promote rapid growth without making the calf 
excessively fat. 

27. Feed the calf skim milk, oil meal, clover, hay, 
oats, wheat and bran. 

28. Breed the heifer to come in at two years old. 

29. After calving, feed lightly on concentrated food 
at first, but gradually increase till in ten days she will be 
on full feed. 

30. The better a cow is fed, up to her capacity to 
assimilate, the greater will be the profit. 

31. Feed a variety of good fodders, such as clover 
hay, ensilage and corn fodder — all the cow will eat. 

32. Do not feed too much corn, not more than one- 
third, or at most, not more than one-half the grain ration; 
the balance may be a mixture of wheat, bran, oil meal or 
cotton seed meal, and oats, if oats are not too high in 
price. 



134 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

33. It will pay to feed a small grain ration in summer 
when cows are on grass, if they are giving milk. 

34. It pays better to produce milk in winter when 
dairy products are higher than in summer. 

35. Cows should come fresh in September or Octo- 
ber, for greatest profit. 

36. It makes very little difference in the cost of keep- 
ing a cow, whether she come in fall or spring; she must be 
fed well the whole year round, anyway. 

37. A cow should not be compelled to work hard for 
food by treading all day over a scanty pasture. 

38. She will take very little exercise if she can get 
food and drink without it. 

39. Don't make her travel hard for water, but have 
good, pure water convenient. 

40. She likes to lie down most of the time and chew 
her cud, and take comfort. 

41. She must be comfortable to do her best. 

42. She must have free access to salt. 

43. Don't drive her fast, and don't let dogs chase her. 

44. Give cows a warm, comfortable stable in winter, 
with plenty of light and good ventilation. 

45. The stables should have tight walls with ventilat- 
ing flues running from near the floor up and out at the 
roof to carry off the foul air. 

46. Cows should not be kept out of doors in cold, 
rainy or uncomfortable weather. 

47. Do by your cows as you would like to be done by 
yourself. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 135 

48. If it is too cold and disagreeable for you to stand 
around out doors, think of your cows and put them in. 

49. Would you like to get in the shade when the sun 
shines hot? Then your cows would. Provide them shade. 
They will pay you for it. 

50. Do not compel your cows to drink ice-water in 
winter. 

5 1 . Give them water as often as they want it, at a tem- 
perature that suits them. 

52. In winter, if cows have water constantly before 
them in the stable, they will drink at least twice a day, 
and sometimes four times a day. 

53. Cows want to drink every time after eating unless 
sufficient water is contained in the food. 

54. Speak to a cow as you would to a mother 

MILKING. 

55. Always confine cows in the stable to be milked. 
It is better than have them chase one another around the 
yard. 

56. Have the stables clean, and have the cow clean, 
or you can't get clean milk. Lime water and whitewash 
for the walls and posts is a good thing. Land plaster is a 
good absorbent in the stable. 

57. Before commencing to milk, brush all loose dirt 
from the sides and udder of the cow. 

58. After a little manipulation of the teats and udder, 
the milk is ready to " come down." Then is the time to 
take it, and do not delay. 



136 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

59. Milk as rapidly as possible without irritating or 
worrying the cow. 

60. No definite rule can be given as to how the teats 
should be handled in milking, as cows differ and hands 
differ so. 

61. There should always be a friendly feeling between 
the cow and the milker, and milkers should not be 
changed if it can be avoided. 

62. A cow will not " give down " her milk to a milker 
she hates or is afraid of, and what she does give will be 
deficient in butter fat. 

63. Always milk a cow in the same manner, at the 
same time and speed. Any change will irritate and tend 
to excite her. 

64. Always milk in the same order and at the same 
time of day. 

65. When it comes a cow's turn to be milked, she 
knows it, and expects it, and wants to be milked. 

66. If you disappoint her and milk her half an hour 
later the chances are that you will get less and poorer 
milk than if you milked at the proper time. 

67. Always milk a cow dry before leaving her, but do 
not continue stripping after the milk is all drawn. 

68. If part of the milk is left at each milking in the 
udder, nature will soon stop providing it, because it is not 
taken. 

69. The last milk drawn from a cow is much richer 
than the first. The last usually contains more than three 
times as much butter fat as the first quart. 

70. Milking should be done with clean, dry hands. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 137 

CARE OF MILK. 

71. Milking should be done in clean, dry tin pails. 
No wooden pails should be used. 

J2. Milk should not be exposed to foul air. 

73. If it is to be set for creaming, it should be set as 
quickly as possible after milking. 

74. If it is to be taken to the factory, either creamery 
or cheese factory, or it is to be sold in the market it 
should be immediately aerated with pure air and cooled 

75. Don't neglect to aerate the morning's milk, even 
if you are in a hurry. It is often the worst milk delivered 
at the factory. 

76. The milk of a sick cow is not fit for food, and is 
prohibited by law. 

J'/. Strain the milk as soon as drawn from the cow. 

78. As long as the milk is warmer than the surround- 
ing atmosphere it is continually giving off vapor, and will 
not take on odors, but injurious bacteria may find their 
way into it. 

79. If the milk is cooler than the surrounding air, the 
impure vapors in the air are rapidly condensed on the 
milk, thereby causing taints. 

80. If carried to the factory, there should be a venti- 
lator in the top of the can, and the can should be pro- 
tected from the rays of the sun on the way. 

81. If the patrons of the factory do not deliver milk, 
the product, whether butter or cheese, cannot be first-class, 
and cannot bring first-class prices. 



138 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



BUTTER MAKING. 



82. Good butter can only be made from good milk, 
and this can only be had from healthy cows kept in good ; 
wholesome food with pure water to drink. 

83. The most effective way of obtaining the cream 
from the milk is the use of the separator. Indeed it is 
very probable that the time is near at hand when the 
creaming of nearly, if not all the milk used for butter 
making, will be done by the separator, either on the farm 
or at the creamery. 

84. The separator gets nearly all the butter fat. 

85. If a separator leaves over one-tenth per cent, fat 
in the skim milk it is not doing good work. 

86. Keep up the proper speed and temperature and 
your separator will invariably do good work. 

87. The temperature of milk to separate well should 
be as high as 80 degrees. 

88. It separates best immediately after being drawn 
from the cow, before it has had time to cool. 

89. Immediately after separating the cream should 
be well aired and cooled down to about 60 degrees, and 
held at that temperature till slightly acid, and then 
churned. 

90. Let the cream get thick, but never let it " whey 
off." 

91. The usual temperature for churning is from 58 to 
62 degrees, but no one can tell what temperature is 
best for his milk until after a trial. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 139 

92. The churning, to be most exhaustive should be 
done at as low a temperature as possible, and not be 
longer about it than 45 to 50 minutes. 

93. Don't be ^atisf.?^ iviih your churning if it leaves 
over two-tenths per cent fat in the buttermilk. It don't 
pay. 

94. If the butter is too soft it has probably been 
churned at too high a temperature. It is easy to over- 
work such butter; i. e., spoil the grain. 

95. Under certain conditions of food, and with cer- 
tain cows, churning has been done quickly at 40 degrees. 

96. Under other conditions it has been impossible to 
churn at less than 70 degrees. 

97. When the butter is in granules the size of wheat 
kernels, the churn should be stopped. 

98. Throw in some salt, and give a few turns of the 
churn to make the butter float. 

99. Draw off the buttermilk and wash in two or three 
waters. 

100. Many persons salt in the churn, but if your cus- 
tomers are particular about the salting, it can be done 
more nicely by taking the butter out and salting on the 
worker. 

101. The average customer wants about an ounce of 
salt to a pound of butter. 

102. If your customer wants pretty dry butter, work 
it on once, then let it lie in a cool place from two to three 
hours, then re-work and pack, and you will have no mot- 
tled or streaked butter. 



140 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

io3. Make your butter as to salt and color to suit 
your customers, and put it in such packages as they wish. 

f'4 Affr-iifriSveE distribution of salt makes streaked 
butter. 

105. If you make good butter you can always get a 
good price for it. 

106. Send it to the butter market. 

107. If you have no special customers, send it to a 
good, reliable commission man, and he will soon find 
buyers. 

108. After they have tried it and found it good, they 
will ask for it again, and after a while, if they get good 
every time, they will get to thinking they can't get along 
without it and can be induced to pay a fancy price for it. 

109. A good reputation is a good help in making 
butter, so when you get it, don't for the world blast it by 
sending off a package of poor butter when there is a 
chance of a good customer getting it. 

110. If, by accident, you have a poor tub of butter, 
don't put your brand upon it, but send it off and let it be 
sold on its merits. 

CHEESE MAKING. 

ill. It is a pretty well established fact that a profita- 
ble butter cow is also a profitable cheese cow. 

112. It is not wise to take any cream from milk that 
is to be made into cheese. 

1 1 3. There may be a small per cent gain by the opera- 
tion, but it will be followed by a damaged reputation that 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 141 

it will take a long time to out-grow, so that in the end it 
will be a losing business. 

114. Milk at cheese factories should be pooled on the 
basis of the butter fat contained in it, the same as in the 
creameries. 

115. Many careful experiments have proved that this 
does substantial justice. 

116. Remember the most serious obstacle the cheese- 
maker has to contend with is tainted milk. 

117. The causes of taint in the milk nearly all rest 
with the producer. 

118. It is only justice to the deserving patrons that 
the cheese-maker should refuse milk delivered at the fac- 
tory in bad condition, but the cheese-maker cannot 
always tell when the milk is bad, as germs may be in that 
will only develop after heating it. Such germs get into the 
milk through uncleanliness. 

119. One batch of impure milk contains enough bac- 
teria to contaminate an entire vat of pure milk. 

120. Milk for cheese-making should not be treated 
precisely as it is for butter-making. 

121. Thorough aeration is absolutely necessary before 
milk is placed where the temperature would be rapidly 
lowered. 

122. A simple way to aerate milk is to pour it slowly 
with a long-handled dipper, one that will reach to the 
bottom of the can. 

123. Do not use too large cans, for the milk will not 
J be properly aerated in such cans, 



142 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

124. Be sure the cans are smooth and well soldered 
and that there are no corners for the dirt to get into. 

125. The same thing with the covers. Don't buy a 
can where the edge of the cover is turned over and not 
soldered. 

126. Keep milk cans in good repair, but do not try 
to tinker up a rusty old can that has passed its day of use- 
fulness, for it may spoil more milk than ten new cans 
would cost. 

127. In repairing cans don't have a bottom soldered 
in over the old one, or a patch put on under which the 
milk may afterwards get and rot. 

128. Shove the cover down close to the milk, so that 
it will not churn on the way to the factory. 

129. Do not allow whey to stand in the milk cans 
after returning from the factory. 

130. Better not take whey from the factory unless it 
can be obtained sweet. 

131. Insist upon your cheesemaker thoroughly scald- 
ing the whey and scrubbing out the whey tank daily. 

132. Sweet whey, when properly fed, may be worth 
from eight to ten cents per 100 pounds. 

133. Sour whey, when over-fed, may not only be a 
positive damage to the animals receiving it, but a course 
of contamination to the milk carried to the factory. 

134. As soon as you return from the factory, wash 
the cans. 

135. Rinse first with cold water, then wash thoroughly 
with hot water, rinse last with scalding water, and place 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 143 

cans where they will drain, be in the sun and have a good 
circulation of air all around. 

136. Water that you can hold your hand in won't 
scald a can. 

137. Do not rely upon the pump in times of scarcity 
of milk and low dividends. 

138. But cling to the Babcock test; use it as a friend 
and counsellor in times of doubt and perplexity. 

139. It will prove itself to be as good a friend in the 
cheese factory as it has been in the creamery. 

140. And your ways will be ways of pleasantness, and 
your paths will be paths of peace. 

At the Utah Experiment Station twelve cows were 
tested — the test extending through one year. The feed 
was weighed separately to each cow and charged to her, 
and all the butter from her milk was credited to her. The 
table shows the results, and indicates the importance of' 
keeping only the best cows: 

Lbs. of Butter 
in One Year. 

365 • 46 
317.20 
302.91 
254.46 

353-53 
249-13 
326.97 
291 .66 
265.73 
261 .06 
237.20 
182.00 
1 7 1 . 60 
182.81 

Note the difference between the best and poorest cows. The 
best is over 200 pounds less in weight, her food costs practically the 
same, while her butter product is doubled at one half the cost per 
pound. From this it is easy to see which of these cows pay their 
way in hard times. 



No. of 


Weight of 


Cost of 


Cow. 


Cow. 


Feed. 


3 


976 


$21.65 


9 


911 


19.71 


5 


1,007 


20.90 


2 


I,IOI 


17.80 


8 


992 


24.89 


11 


989 


18.74 


13 


1,035 


26.71 


4 


1,029 


25.58 


7 


965 


25.OO 


10 


966 


25.82 


12 


909 


23.88 


5 


914 


20.07 


H 


889 


I9.61 


1 


1,191 


21.58 



Cents per 
Pound. 


Order of 
Value. 


5.91 
6.21 


2 


6.9I 


3 


6.99 


4 


7.04 

7-51 
8.17 

8.77 


5 
6 

7 
8 


9.4O 

9.88 

10.06 


9 
10 


II .02 


12 


11.42 
II.80 


13 
14 



144 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 







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BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



145 



LEGAL AND STANDARD MEASURES OF THE 

VARIOUS STATES. 

Legal or Customary Weights of a Bushel of Produce in Various States. 



States. 



Arkansas 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Georgia 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts . . . 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Missouri , 

Montana 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

New Hampshire , 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Carolina.. 

Ohio 

Oregon 

Pennsylvania. . . . 
Rhode Island. . ... 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Vermont 

Virginia 

West Virginia. . 

Wisconsin 

Washington .... 



48 



50 



24 



60 



60 
2860 

25 



24 



25 



24 



46 



60 



60 



60 



/o 



70 



70 



63 



70 



70 



57 



57 



5o 



So 



60 



5o 



60 



60 



60 



60 



60 



57 



50 



60 
60 
60 

60 
60 
60 
60 

60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 
60 



60 



60 
60 
60 



60 
60 
60 
60 
60 

60 



*7o pounds from Nov. 1 to May 1; 68 pounds May 1 to Nov. 1. 



146 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

MISCELLANEOUS LEGAL WEIGHTS PER BUSHEL. 

Beets, Mangels and Ruta Bagas: 60 pounds in Maine, 
Vermont, Connecticut; 56 in Wisconsin; 50 in Missouri. 
Carrots: 50 pounds in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, 
Wisconsin, Missouri, Montana; 55 in Connecticut. Pars- 
nips: 45 pounds in Connecticut; 44 in Wisconsin, Mis- 
souri; 50 in Montana; 55 in Indiana. Bottom Onion Sets, 
36 pounds in Kentucky. Rice Corn, 56 pounds in Kansas. 
Berries: 32 pounds in Rhode Island. Cherries, Grapes, 
Currants, Gooseberries, 40 pounds in Iowa. Blackberries, 
Strawberries, Raspberries, 32 pounds in Iowa. Peaches, 
Quinces, 48 pounds in Iowa. Dried Peaches: 33 pounds 
in Massachusetts ;"39 in Kentucky. Dried Plums: 28 pounds 
Michigan. Cranberries, 40 pounds in Michigan. "Wild 
Peaches/' 33 pounds in Ohio. In the Dakotas, a bushel 
of wheat is 50 pounds; corn, 56 pounds; buckwheat, 42 
pounds; onions, 52 pounds; potatoes, 60 pounds; turnips, 
60 pounds; sweet potatoes, 46 pounds. In Rhode Island, 
Wisconsin, Washington and Montana, a bushel of Root 
Crops is 50 pounds. 

MISCELLANEOUS LEGAL SIZES. 

The heap bushel contains 2564 cubic inches in Con- 
necticut and Kansas; 2150.42 inches in New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Nebraska, Tennessee, Missouri, Washington. 

The bushel measure must be 19^ inches in outside 
diameter, the half-bushel 15^ inches, the peck 12% 
inches, in New York and California. 

The bushel measure must be 1%% inches in inside 
diameter, the half-bushel 13^ inches, the peck 10^ 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 147 

inches, and the half-peck 9 inches, in New Hampshire and 
Minnesota. 

Produce sold by dry measure must be heaped as full 
as the measure will hold in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wis- 
consin, Minnesota, California, Oregon and Washington. 

Heap measures must be cylindrical, with a plane bot- 
tom, in New York and California. 

The half-bushel is 13 39-40 inches in interior diameter 
and 7 1-24 inches deep in Ohio. It contains 1075 I_ 5 cubic 
inches in Indiana. 

In New Jersey the cranberry box, to hold a bushel, 
must be 12x8^x22 inches in the clear. 

In Wisconsin, cranberry packages must conform to 
the following sizes: "The legal and standard cranberry 
barrel in this State shall be twenty-three and three-quar- 
ters inches high, sixteen and one-fourth inches in 
diameter at the head, and eighteen inches in diameter 
at the bilge, inside .measure. Every manufacturer 
of barrels for cranberries shall stamp or brand his 
name with the letters W. S. on such barrels, to indicate 
that they are the Wisconsin Standard in size. All sales 
of cranberries in packages less than a barrel should be by 
the bushel or quart, struck or level dry measure. A stand- 
ard bushel crate for cranberries shall be twenty-two 
inches long, twelve and one-fourth inches wide by seven 
and one-half inches deep, inside measure. 

In New York a barrel of apples, quinces, pears or pota- 
toes shall contain 100 quarts of grain or dry measure, ex- 



148 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

cept that potatoes, when sold by weight, shall be 172 
pounds to the barrel. 

In New York the measure for fruit shall be the half- 
bushel, which shall be made cylindrical, the diameter to 
outside i$*4 inches. The standard half-bushel has 
1075 21-100 cubic inches. 

In Michigan the quantity known as a box or basket of 
peaches shall contain 716 4-5 cubic inches, or ^ of a 
bushel, strict measure. 

Michigan Standard Measure. — The half-bushel or parts 
thereof, shall be the standard measure for fruits custom- 
arily sold by heaped measure; and in measuringsaid com- 
modities, the half bushel or other measure shall be heaped 
as high as may be, without special effort or design. 

Michigan Standard Barrel. — A barrel of fruit, roots or 
vegetables is the quantity contained in a barrel made 
from staves 27 inches in length, and each head 16^ inches 
in diameter, or ordinary flour-barrel size. 

In Maine a barrel of potatoes is 165 pounds. 

In Tennessee a barrel of apples contains 2% bushels. 
A liquid barrel contains 42 gallons. 

In Wisconsin a barrel of apples shall contain 100 
quarts dry measure. 

The avoirdupois pound bears to the troy pound the 
relation of 7,000 to 5,760 in New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and California. 

In Ohio and Rhode Island, standard dry measure shall 
be used for berries and other small fruits. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 149 

The New Jersey standard legal peach basket is 16 
quarts. Height, 12^ inches. Width across top, 13^ 
inches. Inside measurement, 1075.1 cubic inches. Shall 
be marked "Standard, N. J.," in Roman letters upon the 
staves just below the rim, either burned in or painted in 
permanent red paint, and each letter shall be not less than 
1 inch in length and one-half inch in width. (Laws of 1892). 

4. AVERAGE FULL YIELDS PER ACRE OF VARIOUS CROPS. 

Apples — A tree 20 to 30 years old may be expected to 
yield from 25 to 40 bushels every alternate year. 

Artichoke — 200 to 300 bushels. 

Beans, Green or Snap — 75 to 120 bushels. 
11 Lima— 75 to 100 bushels of dry beans. 

Beets — 400 to 700 bushels. 

Carrots — 400 to 700 bushels. 

Corn — 50 to 75 bushels, shelled. 

Cranberry— 100 to 300 bushels. 900 bushels have been 
reported. 

Cucumber — About 150,000 fruits per acre. 

Currant — 100 bushels. 

Egg-plant — 1 or 2 large fruits to the plant for the 
large sorts, like New York Purple, and from 3 to 8 fruits 
for the smaller varieties. 

Gooseberry — 100 bushels. 

Grape — 3 to 5 tons. Good raisin vineyards in Califor- 
nia, 15 years old, will produce from 10 to 12 tons. 

Horseradish — 3 to 5 tons. 

Kohlrabi — 500 to 1,000 bushels. 



150 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Onion, from seed — 300 to 800 bushels. 600 bushels is a 
large average yield. 

Parsnips— 500 to 800 bushels. 

Pea, green in pod — 100 to 1 50 bushels. 

Peach — In full bearing, a peach tree should produce 
from 5 to 10 bushels. 

Pear— A tree 20 to 25 years old should give from 25 
to 45 bushels. 

Pepper — 30,000 to 50,000 fruits. 

Plum — 5 to 8 bushels may be considered an average 
crop for an average tree. 

Potato — 100 to 300 bushels. 

Quince — 100 to 300 bushels. 

Raspberry and Blackberry — 50to 100 bushels. 

Salsify — 200 to 300 bushels. 

Spinage — 200 barrels. 

Strawberry — 75 to 250 or even 300 bushels. 

Tomato — 8 to 16 tons. 

Turnip — 600 to 1,000 bushels. 

The above Tables are taken by permission from the 
Horticulturist's Rule Book, by Prof. L. H. Bailey, Horti- 
culturist of the Cornell University Experiment Station, 
Ithaca, N. Y. 



CHAPTER XV. 
LIVE STOCK. 

As has been asserted in a previous chapter, the breed- 
ing of live stock is absolutely necessary to a perfect 
system of farming. Without live stock to convert the 
grain and grass of a farm into products which add to the 
value of these crops, and at the same time makes the 
smallest draft on the resources of the farm in the way of 
plant food, it is impossible to maintain fertility without 
resorting to the costly chemical fertilizers. 

The keeping of live stock furnishes profitable work 
during the whole year and adds to the revenues that may 
be derived from the land. The great and constantly 
growing demand for meat, wool and leather assures the 
farmer that he need not fear an over-supply of these 
things and that profitable prices will prevail for an indefi- 
nite period. There has never been a time in the history 
of our country when grain and hay fed to live stock did 
not bring more money than it would if it had been sold 
in the market in their natural state. 

Assuming that we need not argue the advisability of 

keeping live stock, the only matter that remains to be 

settled is what class of live stock shall we keep. This is 

a matter that must depend largely on the nature of the 

land, the demand of the most available market, and the 

kind of crops that can most profitably be grown. Some- 

151 . 



152 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

thing depends also on the man who is called upon to 
decide. Personal predilections should be consulted, for 
the man who likes cattle and does not like sheep will 
never be as successful with sheep as he will with cattle. 
Again while sheep do well where the herbage is thin and 
short, cattle require a more plentiful supply of feed. 
Where fencing is an object cattle can be held by a much 
cheaper fence than is required to hold a flock of sheep, as 
two or three wires will hold cattle, while twice as many 
will not hold sheep. 

In many places cattle and sheep do equally well and 
may be kept on the same farm with profit. In other 
places hogs and cattle would do better than sheep and 
cattle, and in a great many cases hogs, cattle and sheep 
may be kept with gratifying success. 

In the great corn belt, where hogs are and always will 
be an important product, cattle seem to be the best live 
stock to keep in connection with them, as the cattle will 
make better use of the coarse corn stalks than would 
sheep. It may be set down as a geneial rule that wher- 
ever hogs are kept cattle should also be kept, but the 
reverse of this is by no means true and there are millions 
of acres on the great ranges of the West where cattle 
thrive, that are not as yet fitted for breeding hogs. 

In the north and nothwest portions of the country, 
horses, cattle and sheep are very profitable, but hogs are 
not suited to these sections, because the grain produced 
in them is too high priced to allow feeding hogs with it 
at a profit. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 153 

Thus it will be seen that no general rule can be laid 
down that will apply with equal force to every section of 
the country. The best rule in such cases is to be guided 
by the experience of those who have bred live stock in 
the particular locality under consideration, or in localities 
where similar conditions obtain. 

No matter what class of live stock is selected it should 
always be pure-bred. The day of the " pennyroyal " 
steer, " razor-back" hog and " native" sheep is a thing of 
the past. The man who desires to receive the greatest 
benefit from his live stock will breed only that which has 
good blood flowing in its veins. 

Where it seems impossible for any reason to begin 
with pure-bred stock, every effort should be made to 
improve the quality of that which is available, and to this 
end only pure-bred sires should be used. By a consistent 
course of breeding to pure-bred sires the most unpromis- 
ing native stock may in a few years be greatly improved 
and made much more profitable. 

Pure-bred stock is the result of many years' skillful 
and patient effort on the part of breeders; it has been 
bred with a certain purpose in view and from generation 
to generation the best for this purpose has been selected 
until there is an inherited tendency, strongly fixed to 
breed true to certain valuable characteristics and produce 
just what the breeder is striving for. 

So successful have breeders been in fixing types that 
pure-bred animals may be counted on with almost abso- 
lute certainty, to produce progeny that is true to type in 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 155 

every way, and marvelous improvements have been made 
on the original stock. This is true of every class of live- 
stock. Cattle have been bred to produce beef in some 
breeds and milk that is rich in butter fat in other breeds. 
Sheep have been bred to produce superior mutton in the 
case of the English breeds and to produce very heavy 
fleeces of wool in other breeds. One breed of horses has 
been bred for speed and all of the race is speedy. Another 
breed has been bred to massive size and is capable of 
pulling loads which the race-horse could not move. The 
hog has been so improved that the six-months-old pig 
weighs more than did his ancestor at eighteen months. 

Pure-bred animals are more profitable than " scrubs " 
not only because they mature at an earlier age, but 
because they assimilate the feed they consume to better 
purpose, making more weight from a given amount and 
putting the added weight where it is most valuable. 

Take the massive, square-built Short-Horn of to-day 
and compare him with the native Mexican bullock. While 
the Short-Horn has heavy^hams, thick loins and deep 
shoulders, the Mexican has bony hams and shoulders, 
thin loins, and a large percentage of his weight is made 
up of his paunch, which is of no value in the market. 

Assuming, then, that breeding live stock is necessary 
to the greatest success in farming and that pure-bred 
stock is infinitely better than that which is of no par- 
ticular breeding, we come to the question of the particular 
breed of the various classes that should be selected. 



156 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

The writer has no ax to grind in this matter, although 
he has strong inclinations, in fact settled convictions on 
the subject. The " battle of the breeds " will never be 
settled as long as men are not of one mind. The Short- 
Horn, the Hereford, the Polled Angus, the Galloway, the 
Polled Durham and other breeds have admirers who are 
ever ready to extol their merits and champion their cause. 
As a matter of fact there is no danger of making a mis- 
take in choosing any of these breeds, if the object is the 
production of beef, for they are equally hardy, equally 
capable of making great weight and equally desirable 
when placed on the market in first-class condition. 

For the production of buttermilk, butter or cheese, 
there is the same opportunity for choice and the same 
diversity of opinion among the champions of the various 
dairy breeds. The Jersey, the Guernsey, the Ayrshire, 
the Holstein-Friesians, the Dutch Belted cattle, the 
Brown Swiss and other breeds make it easy to select as 
fancy dictates in shape and color and at the same time 
get cows that return large profits to their owners. 

If sheep are to be kept there is a wide range in which 
to choose. All sheep make good mutton and all sheep 
produce wool that finds a ready market. To say that one 
breed of sheep is more profitable than another is to offer 
a challenge that will immediately meet with a response 
from the breeders of every other breed of sheep. 

This much may safely be said: The mutton sheep 
produce mutton cheaper than it can be produced by the 
fine-wooled breeds, while in the matter of the production 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 157 

of wool the fine-wooled varieties are unquestionably in 
the lead from an economical point of view. 

In this country we have a great many different breeds 
of mutton sheep, all originating in England, where the 
damp climate is conducive to lush rich pastures, which in 
turn promote growth and a tendency to produce great 
weight in a short time. The Shropshire, the Southdown, 
the Lincoln, the Oxford, the Hampshire, the Dorset and 
other less common breeds make up this class. Their flesh 
makes mutton of the highest quality and their wool, 
which runs from what is known as " middle wool" to 
very coarse, is in demand at prices somewhat lower than 
that paid for the finer qualities. As a rule the fleece of 
the mutton sheep is of lighter weight than that of the fine- 
wooled sheep. 

Our fine-wooled sheep are all descended from the 
same source — the Merinos of Spain. They are known as 
Spanish Merinos, American Merinos, Delaine Merinos, 
Black-top Merinos and Rambouillet or French Merinos. 
This class of sheep either as pure-breds or as grades com- 
prises the great bulk of the sheep of this country. Their 
wool brings the highest price and they are capable of 
living and thriving where no other domestic animal would 
do well. They can be kept in great herds and thrive on 
short and scanty pastures, where the mutton breeds would 
not be able to procure enough to eat. Their wool goes 
into the manufacture of the finest woolen fabrics and 
brings the highest market price. The mutton of this 
class of sheep, while fine and firm, is not considered to be 



158 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

as good as the sweet and fine flavor mutton of the dis- 
tinctive mutton breeds. 

In swine there is less room for choice. There are 
fewer breeds and of these one great breed dominates all 
the others. It is estimated that nine-tenths of all the 
pure-bred swine in the United States are Poland-Chinas, 
a breed that has proven itself to be exactly adapted to 
every condition it is likely to encounter on the average 
"•corn belt" farm of America. However the Poland- 
China has some very sturdy competitors for favor. The 
Berkshires are no doubt a great breed of swine and they 
are making marvelously rapid strides toward the leader- 
ship in the swine kingdom. Within a few years they have 
been greatly improved, and on account of their heavy 
hams and shoulders, and the quality of the bacon that is 
made from their flesh, they are coming more and more 
into demand in the great markets of the country. 

The Chester-Whites are an old breed, which is in high 
favor in some sections, but being a white breed they have 
never been great favorites in the corn belt where the 
black Poland-China or Berkshire is preferred. 

The Duroc-Jersey,a red or sandy-colored hog, is being 
very much improved of late years and from being a rough 
and bony hog has been bred to such perfect shape that it 
is sometimes called the " Red Berkshire." That it has 
many good qualities no one doubts, but it is equally true 
that it is not a favorite with more than a few breeders, 
compared with the number that hold to other breeds. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 159 

Besides these three breeds there are the Victorias, the 
Essex, the Yorkshire and a few other breeds that are 
only rarely met with outside the great live stock shows. 

Of all our farm animals the hog is the most important, 
over a large portion of the country, and is the reliance of 
more farmers than any other class of live stock. 

The breeding of horses is an important branch of the 
live stock industry of this country, and its importance is 
increasing with every year from the fact that European 
farmers are looking to this country for horses with which 
to operate their farms, and European governments are 
constantly buying horses in America for the cavalry arm 
of their military establishments. 

Breeding horses is always profitable in a small way 
with every farmer, because he can use mares as his farm 
teams and these will produce colts while at the same time 
doing their full share of the farm work. 

It costs but little more to feed a colt than it does to 
feed a steer, and when old enough to sell, a good colt will 
sell for a considerably larger sum than the best steer will 
command. 

With the breeding of trotting or running horses the 
average farmer has nothing to do, nor should he, because 
that is a branch of horse-breeding that must be left in the 
hands of experts if it is to be made profitable. In the 
breeding of carriage, coach and draft horses the American 
farmer has a wide field for enterprise and the exercise o£ 
skill. 



l6o SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

In the matter of breeding horses, Col. F. J. Berry, of 
Chicago, is acknowledged to be the best authority in the 
country, as he buys and sells more horses than any other 
man in the United States. From him we learn that the 
most desirable horses are: (i) coach and driving horses 
from 15:3 to 16:2 hands high, good color and preferably 
of Wilkes blood; (2) the cab horse, rather blocky, weigh- 
ing about 1,100 pounds and a good traveler; (3) the bus 
horse, weighing about from 1,250 to 1,400 pounds and a 
fair traveler with good action; (4) the draft horse weigh- 
ing from 1,500 to 1,800 pounds, smooth, blocky, well made 
and of good substance; (5) the American trotting horse, 
which it is not advisable the farmer should attempt to 
breed, because a trotting-bred horse that lacks speed and 
action is a horse that brings a low price. 

In breeding horses the farmer who retains his soundest 
and best built mares and breeds to good stallions will 
always have a horse that will sell at a good price if he is 
sound at market age. In order that he may be sound and 
all right in every way, only sound mares should be bred, 
as unsoundness breeds a tendency to similar blemishes. 

The breeding of goats is beginning to attract attention 
in this country and the demand for them for breeding 
purposes is large and increasing. The Angora goat is the 
breed that is in demand on account of its hair, which is 
used in making mohair goods and plush. The hair of the 
Angora sells at two or three times the price of wool and 
goat skins bring a high price, thousands being imported 
to this country every year. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. l6l 

The Angora goat promises to be a valuable addition to 
our domestic animals, as it is perfectly hardy in all parts 
of the country and its favorite pasturage is weeds, the 
leaves of bushes and briers and other similar vegetation 
which the more common domestic animals refuse to 
touch. For rocky, bushy and semi-barren localities the 
Angora goat seems to have particular value. It is quite 
prolific, the does usually producing two kids at a time. 
The flesh of the Angora is very palatable and the flesh of 
kids is said to be delicious. Where no other class of 
live stock can be kept the goat will live and thrive, thus 
making valuable much land that is now worthless. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
POULTRY BREEDING. 

Poultry breeding is one of the great industries of 
the United States, although it has not attracted the atten- 
tion that should have been given it. 

It is estimated by competent authorities that the 
poultry industry of this country amounts to more than 
$300,000,000 every year, two-thirds of which is derived 
from the production of eggs alone. 

Notwithstanding this, we have never yet produced as 
many eggs as we have consumed, and importations are 
made every year from foreign countries. 

The principal difficulty with poultry breeding in this 
country is the careless system of breeding that prevails. 
While most farmers insist on having well-bred animals 
among their live stock, they pay but very little attention 
to poultry. For this reason the average production of 
eggs in this country was, at the time of the last census, 
only about three dozen eggs for each hen, when it should 
have been at least ten dozen. 

There is just as good argument for keeping well-bred 
poultry as for keeping well-bred stock of any kind. Pure- 
bred poultry is not high priced and it is much more 
profitable than mongrel stock of no particular breeding. 

Pure-bred poultry produces a large number of eggs, 
makes a larger growth on a given amount of feed and 
uses the feed it consumes to a better purpose than mon- 
grel stock does. 

162 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 163 

The American Poultry association, which determines 
all questions relating to pure-bred poultry, recognizes 
twenty-six distinct breeds of chickens, which are sub- 
divided into eighty-six varieties. There are nine breeds 
of ducks, seven breeds of geese and six breeds of turkeys. 

Many of these breeds and varieties are not common 
and some of them are very rare. Half a dozen breeds of 
chickens, two breeds of ducks, two breeds of geese and 
two of turkeys, comprise nine-tenths of all the fowls bred 
in this country. 

Of chickens it is entirely probable that one-half ;n the 
country are made up of Plymouth Rocks or their crosses, 
the Plymouth Rock being the most popular breed in the 
country. This breed is divided into Barred, White and 
Buff varieties, all of equal merit, the color being a mere 
matter of choice. 

The second in point of numbers is probably the Leg- 
horn family, of which there are White, Brown, Buff and 
Silver Duckwing varieties, the last being very rare. 

Light Brahmas are quite numerous and have many 
merits, and Wyandottes, which come in the White, Black, 
Buff and Silver-laced varieties are becoming quite popular. 

The Hamburgs, Cochins, Games, Spanish, Minorcas, 
Andalusians and other breeds recognized by the American 
Poultry association are not very common, although not at 
all rare. 

Dorkings, La Fleche, Houdans, Creve Couers, Silkies, 
Sultans, Sumatras, etc., are rarely seen, the Houdans being 
most numerous of these. 



1 64 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 




NOMENCLATURE. 



i . Comb. 

2. Face. 

3. Wattles. 

4. Ear-lobes. 

5. Hackle. 

6. Breast. 

7. Back. 

8. Saddle. 

g. Saddle-feathers. 

io. Sickles. 
II. Tail-coverts. 



12. Afoz>z Tail-feathers. 

13. Wing-bow. [bar. 

1 4. Wing-coverts, forming wing- 

15. Secondaries. 

16. Primaries or flight-feathers. 

1 7. /W/z/ 0/ Breast Bone. 

18. Thighs. 

1 9. Hocks. 

20. Shanks or Legs. 

2 1 . 6^r. 

22. Ttf^ #r Claws. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 165 

Of the various breeds of ducks the Pekins are found in 
about the proportion of ten Pekins to one of any other 
kind. It would not be far wrong to say they are the 
universally bred breed of ducks in this country. Next to 
them come the Rouens, and of the remaining breeds but 
very few are kept. 

Geese are not popular in this country. It would be 
hard to say which is the most popular breed. Both 
Embdens and Toulouse are bred in considerable numbers, 
and White China, Brown China and Egyptian are fre- 
quently found. Geese are not bred in large numbers in 
any part of the country. 

Turkeys are bred quite largely and are very profitable 
if bred where they can have perfect liberty to range over 
the country and hunt their own living, but they do not 
endure confinement and it is hard to rear them in limited 
enclosures. The Bronze and the White varieties are the 
most popular. 

Success in poultry breeding depends on good care. If 
the fowls are given a warm house which is kept clean and 
are provided with plenty of light, and in connection with 
the comfortable quarters they are properly fed, they are 
very profitable, and a great many people make a living 
from poultry-keeping on a small capital and limited space. 

Poultry does not do well where the land is wet or even 
damp a considerable portion of the year. To this state- 
ment we except ducks and geese, as they do best where 
they can have plenty of water, but at the same time they 
want a dry place in which to sleep. 



l66 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Poultry may be kept in very cheap buildings, in which 
they excel most live stock, as with the domestic animals 
the furnishing of shelter is one of the considerable items 
of expense. 

On the proper feeding of poultry depends success. 
Most farmers feed too much corn for the good of the 
poultry, as corn is a very fattening feed and fat hens do 
not lay well. 

In the production of eggs is found the most profitable 
branch of poultry-keeping. It has been found by experi- 
ment that well-kept hens of good blood will produce eggs 
at a cost not to exceed four cents a dozen under ordinary 
farm conditions. That is, it does not require extraordi- 
nary care to produce eggs at the price named, although 
it does require good care and proper food of the kinds 
that are produced on most farms. 

Although the matter of feeding has been experimented 
with a great many times, it has not yet been determined 
that any set ration or mixture of feeds is the best one, 
and successful poultrymen are divided in their opinions 
on the subject. 

There is a general agreement among careful experi- 
menters that a mixed feed is better than any single feed 
that can be given laying hens. Corn, wheat, oats, buck- 
wheat, sunflower seeds, kaffir corn, sorghum seed, wheat 
bran, wheat middlings, oil-meal, milk and all kinds of 
garden vegetables are relished by fowls, and it is agreed 
that as much variety of feed as convenient produces the 
best results. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 167 

Where fowls are at liberty they do not need vegetable 
feed during the summer, but during the winter they should 
be given raw turnips, beets, potatoes, cabbage, etc., which 
has been cut or chopped fine, in order to keep them in 
good health and promote egg-laying. 

If corn is given once a day, wheat once a day and the 
fowls are given milk to drink, they will lay very well, pro- 
vided they are not over-fed. A flock of laying hens 
should never be given at one time so much that they will 
leave any of their feed. They should be kept with a good 
appetite all the time. Give as great a variety as possible, 
but never too much at one time. 

Cleanliness about the poultry house is absolutely nec- 
essary to profit in poultry breeding. The flock may not 
get sick and die if the poultry house is not well taken 
care of, but it will not produce eggs as well under such 
conditions as it will when the house is kept in a sanitary 
condition. 

Lice of several kinds are a prolific cause of disease, 
death and loss to the poultryman. They are frequently 
very numerous before their presence is even suspected. 
They never get thick in a well-kept poultry house, as the 
whitewashing, cleaning and sunlight are not to their 
liking and they do not reproduce themselves rapidly. 

The best way to keep them off the fowls is to wet the 
perches at frequent intervals with coal oil, and keep the 
floor of the poultry house covered with dry dust of some 
kind. Whitewash is death to them and the whitewashed 
poultry house is not often afflicted with them, if the white- 
washing is repeated at frequent intervals during the season. 



l68 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

A good way to improve a flock of poultry is to pur- 
chase a pure-bred cock, breeding him two years, and then 
getting another of the same breed, but not related in 
blood. The first year will show a change, and this will 
be more apparent with each year, until within five or six 
years the flock will be for all practical purposes as good 
as it would be if pure-bred, as the mixture of pure blood 
will dominate and keep in subjection the unprofitable 
mongrel blood of the original flock. 

Hens should not be kept after their second summer, 
as it has been proven beyond the possibility of doubt that 
a hen does not pay for her keeping after she is two years 
old. A hen hatched in the spring should begin to lay in 
the fall and keep laying through the winter and until time 
for her to molt the next fall. Just before she begins to 
shed her feathers and while she is in good condition is 
usually the best time to sell. This gives each hen a year 
of laying, and after that the most profitable use to make 
of her is to sell her in the market, having pullets to take 
her place. 

An exception to this rule would be made where poultry 
is kept for breeding instead of for the eggs they produce, 
as old hens are best for breeders. 

The farmers of this country could keep five times as 
much poultry as they do without destroying a profitable 
demand, for it is only on account of the limited supply 
that much more poultry is not eaten. 

Poultry can be produced as cheaply as pork, but it 
always brings a better price, therefore we should produce 
more poultry and fewer pigs. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
SILOS AND SILAGE. 

The following directions for making a silo were fur- 
nished the writer by Prof. C. S. Plumb, of Purdue Univer- 
sity Experiment Station, Lafayette, Ind., especially for 
this work, and they describe how that gentleman built the 
silo now in use on the experiment station farm: 

In laying out the site for the silo, a stake was driven 
in the ground and sawed off at three inches above the 
surface. A board was then taken, in one end of which 
was made a hole just large enough to easily slip a good 
sized nail through without binding. Five feet ten inches 
from this was bored an inch hole, and fourteen inches 
beyond this was bored a similar hole. A nail was then 
passed through the first hole, and driven into the end of 
the stake. A sharpened stick (broom-handle is good) 
was then placed through the next hole towards the other 
end, and the board was turned, and a circle scratched on 
the ground with the sharpened stick. This was then 
moved into the last hole and another circle made. These 
two lines of course represented perfect circles, and between 
them was the outline for the foundation, which was dug 
two feet deep. 

The foundation was formed as follows: Small stones 

were used for the grouting below the surface. First a 

layer of stone was placed in the bottom of the ditch, then 

cement made of one part lime, two parts Louisville cement 

169 



170 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

and nine parts of fine gravel-sand was poured in and dis- 
tributed with a hoe. Then a second layer of stone was 
put in place, and more cement added. This process con- 
tinued till the foundation reached the surface. For the 
top of wall for a few inches below the surface level, Port- 
land cement and no lime was used. Owing to the slope 
of the ground the top of the foundation on one side was 
three inches above the surface, and on the other 18 inches. 
Large stones, laid by a mason in Portland cement and 
sand, one to three, completed the foundation. On top of 
this was placed a circle of oak inch-thick boards, two 
thick lapped to break joints, and sawed so as to lay to 
form a circle a scant 12 feet in diameter on the inside. 
These one by six pieces were nailed together and laid in 
cement to form a smooth base for resting the staves on. 

White pine staves were used, dressed on four sides and 
with each edge bevelled 1-16 inch. The staves were of 
two lengths — 12 and 16 feet and five inches wide on the 
outside and dressed down to about I 24 inches thick. When 
the staves were in place, the 12 and 16 foot-lengths alter- 
nated, one of each length butting together to form a silo 
28 feet deep. The ends were held together by a strip of 
galvanized iron 2x5 inches, which was placed in a notch 
for the purpose sawed in the ends of the butting staves. 

Ten hoops made of $/% round iron, with ^ inch ends 
threaded eight inches, were used, the ends being welded 
on the rods, being of course made from large size rod. 
These hoops cost $1.00 each, complete, and were in two 
parts, to facilitate tightening. As a support for the hoops, 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. IJl 

at two points on opposite sides of the silo and joining the 
staves, and thus forming a part of the circle, was placed a 
4x6 piece, with the narrow and beveled side against the 
silo circle. Through the projecting four inches of this 
4x6, at proper intervals, were bored holes through which 
the ends of the hoops were passed. 

The hoops were bent to the curve of the sill, by plac- 
ing the rod on a curved piece of oak, following the curve 
of foundation, and bending to line of curve by striking 
with back of a heavy maul. 

The erection of the stave silo will depend somewhat 
on local conditions — whether in a barn, closely adjacent 
to it on the outside, as in our case, or some distance from 
it, say 25 feet or more. 

We first placed the two 12 ft. 4x6 pieces in position, 
toe-nailing lightly the end resting on the wooden sill, and 
bracing the upper end with a board nailed to a stake in 
the ground. Hoops were then put in place, being sup- 
ported by the 4x6 pieces, and by a stave placed half way 
between them, which was held to the hoops by a staple. 
The holes in the 4x6 varied in distance apart, according 
to point in silo depth. The bottom one was six inches 
from foundation, and the next six were 2% feet apart, 
with the two upper spaces under the top hoop, three feet 
apart, the top hoop being six inches from top. The 
staves were then placed in position on the first half of 
silo, 16 feet length joining the 4x6 pieces, and alternat- 
ing all round with a 12 ft. length. One half of the lower 
part was first put together, and the hoops tightened, after 



172 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

which the opposite side was completed. Each stave was 
held in place by a wire nail driven in over the hoop and 
bent over as a hook. A good wire staple however is 
better. 

In putting up the second tier of staves, pieces resting 
on the 12 ft. staves, between the 16, made a scaffolding 
on which to work. The 16 ft. 4 x6 was then placed on end 
against the silo, with the upper end resting between the 
same staves as the 12 feet length 4x6. A hoop was put 
in next to the top hole, then two men at each timber 
raised them, hoop and all, up to their places. A brace 
with one large nail at each end, allowed the pieces to be 
raised without tipping over. The bottom hoop for the 
top half was then put in place, but not tightened. The 
staves were then put up as in the first half, a ladder being 
leaned against the hoop, upon which a man worked at the 
top line of the silo. As a matter of convenience, the 
strip of iron was placed in the base of the upper stave, 
and then dropped to the top of the lower stave and fitted 
in place. The staves could have been put in place more 
rapidly if we had had a platform erected inside the silo 
to work on, instead of extending across the ends of the 
staves. 

In putting in the upper staves, the hoops nearest to 
the points where the staves join should be fairly loose, 
otherwise the upper staves cannot be readily crowded in 
place. 

After all the staves were in place, and the four hoops 
were drawn tight enough to hold securely, the remaining 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 173 

hoops were put on. One man stayed on a ladder inside, 
to drive back any stave which was too far in, while 
another tightened up the hoops. 

Four doors were cut by sawing four staves at an angle 
of 45 degrees, the long side of the door being inside the 
silo. In constructing the silo, when the place was reached 
where the row of doors should come one stave was sawed 
nearly through in the right place for each door, and then 
the work of putting in staves continued. A narrow board 
was tacked on to prevent breaking this stave in handling. 
When ready to saw out the doors, this board may be 
removed, and as many staves out as desired for width of 
door. 

Late in the season, after the silo was filled, a roof was 
put on which is rather unique in itself. This consists of 
three parts. 

First, two 2x6 pieces were laid on edge across the 
top and center of silo, extending north and south, and 
about 2y 2 feet apart, the north end projecting about eight 
inches, the south two feet beyond the staves. These 
were nailed to the staves. The reason for the two foot of 
projection is to hold the end of the carrier while filing. 

Next two more 2x6's were placed on edge on the top 
of silo, one on each side and outside of the previous 
2 x 6's, the ends projecting eight inches beyond staves. To 
these two pieces were butted and spiked 2x4 pieces, 
which served as rafters, excending with a slight slope 
from the upper edge of 2x6 to the top of staves, and 
equally distributed over the section of silo covered, the 



174 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

spaces between being about 2^ feet apart. Where each 
2x4 rested on a stave, a notch about one inch deep was 
cut. These two frames of one 2x6 and four 2 x 4 were 
then covered with ordinary roof boarding, and each 2x6 
hinged to the nailed piece along side of it, and hooked to 
circumference of silo on inside. A board cover was then 
laid over the central space, the boards being nailed to 
2x2 pieces which dropped down on each side of the out- 
side 2x6 like a trap-door arrangement. The section was 
also hooked to the central 2 x 6's. A tinner then covered 
each section with tin roofing, which was afterwards 
painted, and the work was done. This roof, which is 
almost flat, can be easily removed at any time, is of the 
most convenient type when filling, and is a safe place for 
any fairly clear-headed person to stand on. 

In connection with the construction of this silo, some 
points should be brought out that have not been thus far 
referred to. 

The edges and ends of all staves were painted with 
thin gas tar, which is as good a preservative of wood as is 
known. It was my original intention to paint the wood- 
work on the outside, but a friend of mine who has had a 
stave silo for several years, has stated that where he 
painted his silo, it decayed more rapidly than where he 
did not, and that in future he should never paint a silo. 
We have at Purdue a large water-supply tank, which has 
been painted for many years, and the staves have appa- 
rently not become seriously decayed during this time. 
The acrid gas of silage, however, might have a different 
effect upon the wood and promote decay more rapidly 






BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 175 

than it would be otherwise. Next spring I think I shall 
paint part of the silo, and leave the other part unpainted, 
and keep a note of the results. 

Before putting on the hoops, careful consideration was 
given to the relative merits of flat and round hoops, and 
the flat was decided on. If one wishes to tighten up a 
hoop, there is a smaller space of resistance, with round 
iron hoops clasping the staves, than with two inch flat 
bands, so that the work can be more easily done. Further, 
the bands are more exposed to rust, and are not so easily 
handled, and require more labor in fitting the ends for 
thread. The attention of the writer has been called to 
the fact that some individual, in his desire to reduce 
expenses as much as possible, used bands of woven wire 
fencing. This is a unique proposition, but whether such 
stave holders would be as satisfactory as rods, is ques- 
tionable. 

The question of the cost of this stave silo is the lead- 
ing one that will be asked by many. This may be sum- 
marized as follows: 

COST OF SILO. 

Lime and cement in foundation $ 5.00 

Mason labor 3.60 

Staves 70.70 

Four 4 x 6's, bored for hoop supports 5.20 

Circle of oak for sill 3.10 

Ten hoops 10.00 

Staples and nails .30 

Roof (lumber $5, tin $6) 1 1.00 

Labor, 2 men four days 10.00 

Si 18.90 
Capacity of silo, sixty-two tons. Cost of make, per ton 
capacity, g[.88. 



I76 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

The cost of this silo was much greater than it would 
have been in many places. The ground on which the 
foundation rested was sloping, and the subsoil was a 
porous gravel, so that more masonry work was required 
than would be necessary on level or hard ground, so that 
the foundations were unusually expensive; furthermore, 
the wooden sill might have been dispensed with. Fur- 
ther, the cost for staves was $25.00 per 1,000 feet, which 
is much more than they would have cost in many parts of 
Indiana or elsewhere. In fact, the cost of material repre- 
sented high market prices, but such as we had to pay in 
our vicinity. In northern Indiana, I have reason to believe 
that an equally good silo could be built for less than 
$100.00. 

In the construction of this silo, we gave some consid- 
eration to the point as to whether it is necessary or not 
to bevel the edges of the staves. Mr. L. A. Clinton, of 
Cornell University Station, has recommended during the 
past year that the staves be not beveled at all, that they 
will join together tight enough without making beveling 
necessary. 

A writer in Hoard's Dairyman also states that the staves 
in his silo are simply 2x4 pine scantling, just as they 
come from the mill, sawed square, with no beveling or 
dressing, and that these edge to edge and drawn together 
in a 10 to 12 feet circle, make a tight well-fitting tub. 

We, however, decided to bevel 1-16 inch on each edge, 
for we felt that in case any edges were somewhat untrue 
in matching, that unbevelled, cracks might occur that 
would be prevented by the wide touch secured by the 
bevel. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
FRUIT GROWING— BERRIES* 

Berries are universally relished, and make a most 
refreshing and palatable addition to the table. Besides 
this, they possess properties that add to their mere food 
value by their action on the system of those who eat 
them. They are easily grown and produce abundant 
crops every year, a failure being almost unknown, even 
when the plants are given only moderately good care. 

There are no other means of producing so much deli- 
cious food as by growing berries, and they do not require 
years of care before they begin to make returns for the 
labor bestowed on them. Strawberries produce a full 
crop the next year after they are planted, and raspberries 
and blackberries begin to bear the second year from 
planting. 

If we study the condition under which berries grow in 
the wild state, we find they almost always grow in places 
where the roots are shaded from the direct rays of the 
sun. Wild strawberries are rarely found in any place 
where they are not partially shaded by the grass, and 
blackberries and raspberries find their home in brush 
piles or along fences where the roots are in cool, moist 
soil. If a wild berry bush gets started in an open place, 
or if its natural shelter is removed so as to allow the sun 
to shine on the soil about its roots, the berries will be 
small, seedy and worthless. 

177 



178 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

This gives us a pointer by which we can grow berries 
on small plots, and have them in their greatest perfection 
with very little labor. The growing of berries in large 
quantities requires clean cultivation for several reasons, 
but an increasing number of commercial growers are 
beginning to follow along the lines of nature in their man- 
ner of treating their berry fields. 

Strawberries — Strawberries are peculiar in that a given 
variety may produce immense crops in one section of the 
country, and be comparatively worthless in another in the 
same latitude. The names of the varieties are legion, and 
old sorts are constantly giving away to new and better 
ones. A few years ago the Wilson was the favorite, while 
now it is hardly grown. The Crescent is a later favorite, 
and still holds a large share of public favor. Buback, 
Bederwood, Warfield and several other varieties are about 
equally in favor in different sections of the country. In 
planting strawberries the planter should consult some 
nearby commercial grower, and select varieties on his 
advice. 

The strawberry is a short-rooted plant, comparatively 
speaking, and to do its best should be set on land that 
is naturally very rich, or which has been highly fertilized. 
Recently a new method of preparing the land has come 
into favor with some of the best growers. It was origin- 
ated by a Mr. Goldsborough, of Washington, D. C.,who 
has produced the largest strawberries ever known. 

This method is known as the shallow cultivation I 
method. The way it is practiced is to select well drained 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



170 



soil, and work it very finely to a depth of six inches, work- 
ing into this depth a large amount of fertilizer, either 
stable manure or commercial fertilizer. The plants are 
then set in rows three feet apart and twenty inches apart 
in the rows. 

When the plants are received the tops should be cut 
off and the roots cut off about one-third their 
length from the bottom. Before setting the plants 
in the ground the roots should be dipped in a 
mixture of clay, cow manure and water, made 
into a thin slop. This prevents the roots from dryingout 
by holding the soil close to them. Do not set the plants 
deeper than they stood in the original bed, and pack the 

soil firmly about 
the roots. When 
the roots are 
set into ground 
they should be 
set out as shown 
in the illustra- 
tion, so each 
root will have 
r om to send 
out feeders and 
find a supply of 
plant food. 

Figure 1 rep- 
resents a straw- 
berry plant, 
with the roots 

Fig. 1. 




1%0 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

trimmed ready for planting. When the roots are trimmed 
in this way a bunch of fine rootlets start at once from the 
end where the roots are cut off, and the plant grows much 
more vigorously than it would have done if the roots had 
been left in their natural condition. The illustration does 
not show the top trimmed off. Before planting the top 
should be cut off just below the leaves, leaving the stems 
as a handle to hold the plant with . 

In selecting varieties, care should be taken to get a 
sort that has perfect blossoms to fertilize these kinds 
which have imperfect blossoms. Some kinds of straw- 
berries have blossoms which are imperfect, in that they 
do not have both stamens and pistils, or the male and 



J -D- 




female organs, as strawberries are bi-sexual. Other varie- 
ties have both stamens and pistils, or perfect flowers. 
These are called staminate or pistillate flowered varieties. 
The staminate varieties will bear fruit if planted alone, 
but the pistillate varieties must be planted close to a 
staminate variety, or they will not bear fruit. 

Figure 2 shows a staminate flower. It will be noticed 
that it has in the center little stems, at the top of which 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. l8l 

are minute round balls, on the outside of which is a fine 
powder. In the natural flower these balls are yellow. 

Figure 3 shows a pistillate flower in which these little 
balls (stamens) are lacking. This is an imperfect flower. 
In these two figures A represents the sepals; B, the petals; 
C, pistils, and D, stamens. It will be noticed in the 
imperfect flower the stamens are lacking, and that the 
imperfect flower is smaller than the perfect one. 




In nearly every case the pistillate varieties bear the 
best crops when properly fertilized. The usual rule is to 
plant four rows of the pistillate varieties and one row of 
the perfect or staminate, to fertilize the flowers. 

The strawberry bed should be given very clean cultiva- 
tion the summer after it is set out. Each plant will throw 
out runners, and these will produce new plants in profusion. 
The runners should be trained to run between the plants 
first set and allowed to form a matted row of plants about 
a foot wide, leaving the plants about six inches apart. As 
soon as enough plants for this purpose are set, the runners 
should be pulled off as fast as they start in order that the 
plants that are left may make as much growth as possible, 
for on the thrift of the plants in the fall depends the yield 
the next year. 



l82 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

Strawberries are never killed by cold, but unless they 
are protected from freezing and thawing, the frost throws 
them out of the ground as it does clover, and they die the 
next spring. To prevent this the beds are covered with 
straw, corn stalks, swamp grass, or other litter in the fall. 
This is called mulching. The mulching material should 
not be put on until the ground has frozen quite hard in 
the late fall, and then it should be put to the depth of 
four or five inches between the rows, pressing the mulch 
close to the sides of the rows. Care should be taken not 
to cover the plants too deeply, as they are likely to 
smother during the winter where this is done. This 
mulching prevents the ground from thawing after it is 
frozen, and should be left undisturbed in the spring until 
the plants begin to grow, It is then raked away from the 
plants, but may left between the rows and close enough 
to the plants to prevent the rains from splashing the soil 
on the berries. By leaving the mulch between the rows 
the soil is kept cool and moist, and in the best condition 
to benefit the fruit crop. 

Commercial strawberry growers usually plow up abed 
as soon as one crop is off, and plant it anew. For the 
farmer this is not so necessary, as with proper care a 
bed may be made to produce for several years. To do 
this, as soon as the fruit is picked, plow between the rows, 
throwing the furrows toward the plants. It is not neces- 
sary to be very careful not to cover the plants in doing 
this. Then fill the dead furrow between the rows with, 
the finest manure that can be found on the farm, and rake 






BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 183 

the land level, thus rakingthe soil off the plants that may 
have been covered in plowing. Then with a sharp hoe 
cut out the plants that were first set, and all others, until 
they stand a foot apart in the rows, and with a spading 
fork work the ground up fine between the plants in the 
rows. Cultivate as during the first year, training the run- 
ners so as to form a new bed. 

As to yield, the strawberry is the most prolific of all 
berries. J. L. Hartwell, an extensive berry grower of 
Dixon, 111., had a year or two ago, a yield of 8,000 quarts 
to the acre; and Mr. Hoxie, of Wisconsin, told the 
writer of a field of strawberries that yielded an average of 
1 1,000 quarts to the acre. At 8,000 quarts there were 
fifty quarts on a square rod, and abed containing five 
rods of ground would supply 250 quarts — enough for any 
farmer's family, with some to spare. 

Raspberries and Blackberries. — These two berries 
require identical treatment so far as soil and cultiva- 
tion is concerned. Raspberries follow strawberries, and 
are in turn followed by blackberries, thus prolonging the 
berry season through several weeks. 

Raspberries are of two entirely different sorts. One 
kind is propagated by suckers or from pieces of the roots 
and the other by the tips of the canes drooping to the 
ground and taking root. These are commonly called 
suckering and tip-rooting varieties as the case may be. 
The suckering varieties are red, black or yellow, most of 
them being red. The tip-rooting varieties are nearly all 
of the sort know as black caps, sometimes called " thimble 



1 84 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



berries." A few varieties of this sort are yellow, but these 
are rarely cultivated, not being in favor with the publia 

Figure 4 shows a raspberry plant started from a suck- 
ering variety. In this the sucker is dug up with a piece 
of the root from which it springs and planted to make a 
new hill. 

Figure 5 shows a tip-rooted plant which has started 
from the tip or a cane that has touched the ground. To 
increase the number of plants in such varieties the tips 
are frequently bent to the ground and fastened there, 





Fig. 4. 



Fig. 5. 



when they at once take root and furnish a plant to set 
out the next year. In this illustration the dotted line 
shows the bud from which the plant will grow. 

For either raspberries or blackberries the land should 
be heavily manured and deeply plowed. If manured and 
plowed and then manured and plowed again, it is better, 
as this mixes the manure and the soil quite thoroughly. 
The rows should be six or seven feet apart and the plants 
three feet apart in the rows, two plants in a hill. Give the 
plants very thorough cultivation during the first summer, 
and as the canes grow pinch them off as soon as they 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 185 

reach a height of three feet. This can easily be done 
with the thumb and finger if attended to regularly, as the 
tips are easily broken. 

Late in the fall, before freezing weather, bend the 
canes to the ground and fasten them in that position by 
throwing a shovelful of soil on the tops, preferably bend- 
ing the tops to the south. After this is done cover the 
plants with straw 7 , corn stalk, evergreen boughs or coarse 
swamp grass, putting on just enough to cover them. The 
coaser this covering material the better, as it then holds 
the snow, which is the best protection. 

As soon as the plants start in the spring, straighten 
them up and begin to cultivate, keeping this up until the 
first week in June. Then cover the ground between and 
around the plants with straw, or better, with green clover, 
to prevent evaporation from the soil and to protect the 
roots from the hot sun. 

After the crop is off cut out every old last year's cane 
in the hills, leaving the new canes that have grown up for 
the. next year's crop. 

A northern slope is best for all kinds of berries and 
especially for raspberries and blackberries, although with 
proper attention they will produce good crops on almost 
any exposure. 

About fifty hills of raspberries, half red and half black, 
and the same number of blackberries, will supply an 
average family with enough berries for use in season, and 
a supply forearming for winter. 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



CURRANTS, GOOSEBERRIES AND GRAPES. 

Currants and gooseberries while of minor importance 
in the market, are more universally grown by farmers 
than any other small fruit. They are valuable and easily 
grown, thriving and producing fruit with the least atten- 
tion and often without attention, but responding readily 
to cultivation and fertilizers. 

Currants — We have three varieties of currants: the red 
and white, sub-varieties of the same origin, black and 
Missouri or flowering currant. The red currant is a native 
of the Northern States and Europe. It is the European 
red currant from which we get the cultivated varieties. 

The black currant is a native of Siberia and is but little 
cultivated, as it is not esteemed as a food product on 
account of its peculiar odor. 

The Missouri or flowering currant is a native of the 
Mississippi valley and is cultivated for its sweet-smelling 
flowers, which are yellow in color and are produced in the 
greatest profusion. Some varieties of this are cultivated 
for the fruit, which is black, but it is not a heavy bearer, 
and as a fruit producer is a failure. 

Currants do best on well fertilized ground. They are 
planted in rows six feet apart each way, and it is best to 
cultivate them in both directions, where a considerable 
number are grown. 

Currants are propagated by cuttings, as they root 
readily. Sometimes branches are bent down and fastened 
to the ground and allowed to put forth roots before being 
separated from the parent stem. If the bushes have 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 187 

become root-bound, from having stood in one place for 
several years, they may be taken up, separated into 
clumps and reset with benefit. 

The best time to take cuttings is soon after the leaves 
have fallen in the autumn. The young wood — that which 
has grown during the season — is cut off and cut into 
pieces about six inches long and immediately planted in 
a rich loam that is well drained. The cuttings are planted 
in rows two feet apart, six inches apart in the rows, leav- 
ing one inch of the top above the surface. These cuttings 
will start some roots before freezing weather and will 
grow vigorously from the next spring. They should be 
left one season in the rows and taken up and planted 
where they are to fruit. 

The land between the rows in the permanent planta- 
tion should be plowed lightly in the spring and given 
good cultivation until the middle of summer, or, it may be 
cultivated until the first of June and then covered with a 
mulch of straw, tanbark or any other convenient material. 

It is best to prune the bushes to prevent them from 
becoming too thick. When doing this it should be remem- 
bered that a currant sprout produces fruit on three-year- 
old wood, and the weakest of the old canes should be cut 
out, together with enough of the younger ones to make 
the bush sufficiently thin. About six canes to a hill are 
enough. 

Currants do not require winter protection except in 
the far North. They are sometimes benefitted by tying 
the bunch close together with a soft cord-like wool twine. 



1 88 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

The Red Dutch is the standard variety and is probably 
as good as any. Versailles is almost identical with the 
Red Dutch, but not so hardy. Fay's Prolific bears the 
largest berries, but is tender, and this leads to damage to 
the fruit buds. With the writer it has always been a shy 
bearer. The White Grape currant is a good variety of the 
white sub-variety. 

Gooseberries — Require the same conditions and atten- 
tion as currants, except that they do not grow well from 
cuttings, and are usually propagated from layers, which 
are laid down in the summer and planted in the fall. 

Gooseberries are liable to mildew and the bushes 
should be kept pruned in such a manner that the air can 
circulate freely through the branches. 

In the selection of varieties the nurserymen give quite 
a list of varieties, but Houghton, Downing and Industry 
seem to be the best. Of these Houghton is the hardiest 
and the safest for the amateur to plant. 

Grapes — Grapes are found growing wild the world 
over, and have been a favorite fruit from the earliest ages. 
They are easily grown and notwithstanding the multitude 
of arguments as to the best method of pruning them they 
will produce a fair crop in a favorable season without 
being pruned at all, and it is not an uncommon sight to 
see a grape vine that has been allowed to grow without 
being touched by the pruning knife, loaded down with 
fruit in the fall. 

Without going into minute details concerning pruning 
the grape, it is sufficient to say that the vine should be 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 189 

kept from forming too much wood. This is accomplished 
by cutting it back every year, leaving the first year one 
cane or sprout, the second year two and the third year 
three, and so on until six or seven canes are allowed to 
grow each year; these usually being allowed to throw out 
three branches each. To have them do this, cut back the 
year's growth to three buds, from each of which will 
spring a fruit-bearing branch the next spring. It should 
be remembered that grapes are always produced on the 
wood that grows the year the grapes are ripened. A bud 
starts to grow and makes a branch. This blooms and 
bears fruit the same year. The next year this branch 
throws out fruit-bearing spurs and so on. Unless the vine 
is trimmed back the weight of fruit is so great in a few 
years that the size of the berries is greatly reduced. 

Grapes need a dry location, a side-hill being preferred, 
but not at all necessary if the land is well drained, nat- 
urally or artificially. 

The cultivation consists in keeping the ground loose 
and free from weeds. The vines may be trained on a 
trellis made of wire more conveniently than in any other 
way. Grapes should be pruned in the fall or very early 
in the spring, before the sap starts to run. The best 
varieties are Concord, Worden, Niagara, Delaware, Pock- 
lington, Moore's Early and Campbell's Early. The 
Niagara and Pocklington are white, the Delaware red. 
Concord, Delaware and Pocklington are the best three 
late. Mobre's Early is probably the best early. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
SAYINGS OF SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 

In this chapter is given in their own words paragraphs 
from the most successful farmers of three or four states. 
Every one of these men have made a success of farming 
and their words are well worth remembering and putting 
to practical use. 

THE AMERICAN HOG. 

It has been said by high authority that in the Ameri- 
can hog we have an automatic, combined machine for 
reducing the bulk in corn and enhancing its value. A 
machine that oils itself; puts ten bushels of corn into less 
than a bushel measure and quadruples the value of the 
grain. Corn loaned to a well-bred hog is cash at a big 
interest. A good brood sow is the ideal of safe invest- 
ment, a sort of bucolic bond, the coupons of which mate- 
rialize in large litters of pigs, convertible into cash on 
demand. — Fred. Rankin, Athens, Ills. 

NO LIVE-STOCK, NO FERTILITY. 

To preserve and maintain the fertility of the soil is the 
first requisite of agriculture. It has been said that how to 
maintain the fertility of the soil is the question of all 
questions in farm life To solve it would add more to the 
prosperity of the country than to solve many of the 
so-called problems of the day. There is only one side to 
this question: we must save the manure. Without stock 

there is no manure; without manure there is no fertility. 

190 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. igi 

Stock raising is, therefore, the foundation of successful 
farming. It is impossible to retain the fertility of the 
farm that is not connected with animal industry. — A. P. 
Grout, President Illinois Live-Stock Breeders' Associa- 
tion/Winchester, Ills. 

a farmer's orchard. 
There is no waiting in the business orchard. The 
orchard grows to the farmer; he does not invest in it, he 
does not buy into it, he simply starts right and then goes 
right along with his farming and in a few years the 
orchard is there and he scarcely realizes that it has cost 
him anything provided it is done right. Let him devote 
ten, twenty or thirty acres to the orchard and then he can 
buy trees at the lowest rates. Let them be planted thirty 
feet apart each way, about fifty trees to the acre. This 
will make the cost about $5 to the acre. After the trees 
are planted the farmer crops the land just the same as if 
h * had no trees on it, giving preference to such crops as 
p Jtatoes, peas, beans, clover and crops as will not exhaust 
the soil. Although my orchard is very far from being a 
business orchard, it has always been a paying investment 
on my farm. Even in seasons of hard times, over-produc- 
tion and low prices it has paid me several hundred dollars 
in clear money. Now that it is established I cannot see 
how it can possibly bankrupt me, as the principal expense 
about it is the harvesting. Surely no man was ever bank- 
rupted in Wisconsin by the cost of merel harvesting a 
good crop. — A. L. Hatch, Ithaca, Wis. 



I92 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

FARMING PAYS. 

We have strong proof that farming pays in the large 
number of men with large families who get a good living 
from the farm. It is true that that is about all they do 
get, but if they were in any other business under the sun 
they would either starve or the town would have to sup- 
port them. — Robt. Barney, Traverse City, Mich. 

Here is a good story told by Governor James A. 
Mount, of Indiana, in the presence of the writer: 

gov. mount's story. 

An old farmer in Montgomery county (Ind.), Uncle 
Dave Enoch, as he was called, was asked to talk at a 
farmer's institute in his county. He said: " When I pur- 
chased my farm in this county my neighbors twitted me 
of having bought a poor farm. It was true," said he, 
" that the farm had been poorly managed, and the soil 
had become impoverished, but I contrived to make 
enough money from this poor farm to pay for 600 acres 
of richer land in this county and at the same time greatly 
improve the poor farm. I grew clover abundantly and at 
all times keeping a large part of my farm in grass, thus 
enabling me to engage in growing live stock sufficient to 
consume the products of my farm, and a large amount of 
the products of my neighbors, who are so unwise as to 
prefer marketing the products of their farm in wagons 
instead of in the fleece or on the hoof. I get profit in two 
ways when I feed stock; the profit on my stock and the 
enrichment of my farm. I grow clover for the same 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. T 93 

reason; I get the crop and at the same time improve my 
soil. ,, 

THE VALUE OF SMALL THINGS. 

Many farmers think themselves too busy with the "big 
things " — wheat crops, corn crops, cattle and hogs, etc. — 
to pay attention to the apparently lesser things, such as 
poultry, eggs, butter, potatoes, cabbage, fruits, etc. 
Many farmers feel themselves above such petty things; 
yet in the little well kept, trifling departments of the farm 
lies the actual cream of prosperity. The hen question 
should be studied out. If it is desired to raise chickens 
to sell by weight, assuredly the larger breeds should be 
chosen. If it is desired to raise chickens for the purpose 
of selling their egg products, then most assuredly, the 
great layers should be chosen. So in the butter-making 
or milk-producing department. If it is desired to make 
butter, to sell milk, the cows producing the largest quan- 
tity of good milk should be selected. In the fence corners 
where we could not cultivate we planted peach and apple 
trees and thus gathered, many years, crops of good fruit. 
Small fruits, such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries 
and grapes, if raised in the right manner, will add a neat 
little revenue to the bank account. The farmer in any 
community who has the reputation of producing the best, 
the most honest goods, is the farmer who will lead his 
neighbors, because he will, if he is as diligent in seeking 
and obtaining full value as he is in producing high class 
produce, always be getting more for his high class goods 
than his neighbors are getting for the ordinary hap-hazard 
stuff. — J. L. Jones, Kansas City, Mo. 



194 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 

Persons suffering from the rheumatism, nervous dis- 
eases and nervous dyspepsia should eat celery and turnips. 
Onions are almost the best nervine known; they will 
quickly relieve and tone up a worn-out system and are 
beneficial in cases of coughs, colds, influenza, scurvy, and 
liver complaint. 

Let those who need iron for a tonic eat spinach and 
let the drug (iron) alone. Carrots should be eaten by 
those who have asthma. Let those who need increased 
perspiration to relieve over-worked kidneys and lungs eat 
asparagus. Cranberries are the proper diet for those suf- 
fering from erysipelas. They should be applied exter- 
nally also. Lemons satisfy and cool the thirst of fever. 
Blackberries are for atonic. Blackberry cordial will cure 
diarrhoea. Persons who are billious, who have indigestion 
and dyspepsia, conditions for which calomel is usually 
prescribed, should let calomel alone and eat freely of ripe 
tomatoes. Let those who have rheumatism and need an 
aperient eat rhubarb. The apple, excelling in phos- 
phoric acid, and other fruits, is an excellent brain food. 
They are aperient, diuretic, and hence good for dyspepsia 
and indigestion; they assist the kidneys and prevent 
gravel. Let persons who use aperients, laxatives and 
cathartics eat freely of apples, figs, bananas, rhubarb, 
tomatoes, onions, and berries of all kinds. — L. H. Cal- 
loway, Bethel, 111. 



BY SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. IQ5 

THE NEW FARMER. 

The new farmer will be wiser than the alchemist of 
old„and at his skillful touch orchard and vineyard, furrow 
and fallow, flock and herd shall yield him their precious 
wealth. His possessions shall form the basis of the 
world's commutations. Socially he will extend toward 
all occupations of inherent hospitality of his nature. The 
new farmer's life, whether before the public's scrutiniz- 
ing gaze or in the privacy of home, will be spotless and 
upright, the growth of higher, purer and better civiliza- 
tion. His nature will be gentle and patient, for it takes 
an abundance of patient work to bring success. — S. W. 
Mulnix, Damascus, 111. 



CHAPTER XX. 
HOME TRAINING- 

Believing that the most important period in the life of 
the individual is the early years spent in the home, we have 
endeavored to bringbefore the child-mind those elements 
of primary education which seem best adapted to develop 
his faculties symmetrically, and prove most valuable 
in after years. The culture of the imaginative power — or 
creative ability; of the eye to see and judge correctly, and 
the training of the hand to execute accurately, is of the 
greatest importance in this industrial age. 

It is our object to create a thirst for a greater knowl- 
edge of nature as seen in its various forms on every hand. 
Many have " eyes to see and see not, and ears to hear and 
hear not," simply because they have not been trained to use 
these faculties intelligently. 

Drawing, in its simplest analysis, is the abilty to record 
objects as they appear to the normal eye. There are no 
outlines in nature. 

Art is more complicated. It includes many elements, 
a few of which are composition, expression of movement 
and action. The very thought, feelingand refinement of the 
artist must be expressed in his work. He must tell not 

only what he sees, but also what he feels. 

196 



NATURE STUDY. \qj 

The boundaries, shapes and character of various forms 
are determined by the difference of their color values and 
the contrasts of light and shade. Yet an outline drawing 
is the simplest means of representing form and propor- 
tion. Although inadequate in many respects, this some- 
what conventional rendering is all importantto the begin- 
ner, for it is absolutely necessary 'that the child be taught to 
observe forms and proportions correctly \ and these impres- 
sions may be recorded most simply and definitely by out- 
line drawings. Michael Angelo emphasied its importance 
in these words: "The science of drawing, or of outline, 
is the essence of painting, and all the fine arts and the root 
of all the sciences." 

Any boy or girl can learn to copy accurately every 
outline upon the scrool, but this is not sufficient. It should 
be only the foundation. In connection with these copies he 
should use his imagination, and create for himself pict- 
tures with imaginary houses, barns, trees, birds and ani- 
mals of different kinds, and the buildings in different posi- 
tions, and theanimalsin action The principal suggestions 
for such -pictures are found in the Chautauqua. A lesson in 
picture building is shown in Scroll Plate No. io. We have 
purposely omitted the principal objects from the scene. 
This furnishes a fine opportunity for developing construc- 
tive ability. 

The use of the Chautauqua should be made a pleasure 
and not a task. Watch the development of the child 
as he uses the Desk from month to month. 



iq8 



NATURE STUDY. 



Pussy-wiliovv, 
from nature. 

the country. 



WHAT IS NATURE STUDY? 
L. H. BAILEY. 

It is seeing the things which one looks 
at and drawing the proper conclusion from 
what one sees. Nature study is not the 
study of a science as of botany, ento- 
mology, geology and the like; that is, it 
takes the things at hand and undertakes 
to know them without reference to sys- 
tem, order, or relationship of the object. 
It is wholly informal and unsystematic — 
the same as the objects which one sees. 
It is, therefore, supremely natural. It 
simply trains the eye and the mind to see 
and to comprehend the common things of 
life, and the result is the seeing of a living 
sympathy with everything that is. 

The proper objects of nature study are 
the things which one oftenest misses. To- 
day it is a stone, to-morrow it is a twig, a 
bird, an insect, a leaf, a flower, etc. The 
College of Agriculture of Cornell Uni- 
versity has interested itself in this nature 
study work. It is trying to help the 
farmer, and it begins at the most teachable 
point — the child. The district school can- 
not teach agriculture any more than it can 
teach law, engineering, or any other pro- 
fessional trade; but it can interest the 
child in nature and in rural problems, 
and thereby fasten its sympathies to 
The child will teach the parent — the com- 



ing generation will see the result. 




1 



> 



CHAPTER XXI. 
A BUG-CATCHER AND HIS LIFE HISTORY, 
The life history of the common or warty toad is 
exceedingly interesting. It passes through marvelous 
changes in its development from the egg to maturity. 
This interesting animal is found nearly everywhere in the 
world. He is such a good friend to the farmer, the gar- 
dener, the florist, the fruit-grower, and the stock-raiser 
that every man, woman and child ought to know some- 
thing of him and thus learn to appreciate their oft- 
despised helper. 

It was Wm. Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation 
of the blood, who first clearly stated to the world the fact 
that every animal comes from an egg. This is as true of 
the toad as of the chicken. The toad lives on land and 
often a long way from any pond or stream; but the first 
part of his life is spent in the water. To find the eggs 
one has only to visit a pond so common along streams. 
In the cities the eggs are to be found in artificial reser- 
voirs and the basins around fountains. In ordinary years 
the best time to find them is from the 
middle of April to the first of May. 
199 




200 NATURE STUDY. 

One is often guided to the right place by noticing 
the direction from which the song or call of the toad 
comes. If you watch a toad carefully you will notice 
that he does not open his mouth when he sings; but 
there is a great expansib^ vocal sack or resonator in 
the mouth or throat. (See illustration above.) 

The eggs are laid in long strips or ropes and nearly 
always tangled around water plants or sticks at the bottom 
of the pond, near the shore. If you look for them when 
freshly laid or where the water is clear, the egg ropes will 
look like glass tubes containing a string of jet black 
beads. Frogs, salamanders and tree toads lay their eggs 
in the same place and about the same time as the toad. 
Only the toad lays his eggs in strings, so you can be sure 
to find the right kind. 

At the bottom of the page is an illustration of the 
egg ropes. Just above we see the polliwog or tadpole 
in the successive stages of development. All the changes 
from an egg to a little toad (see plate) are passed through 
in about two months, so that by the first of June the tad- 
pole will be found to have made great progress. If one 
visits the pond about the last half of June he is likely to 
see many little toads hopping away from the water. 
After a warm shower they are particularly active and are 
most commonly seen. Many say they rain down. They 
were not seen before the rain so " they must have rained 
down." Is that good reasoning? 

The food of the toad consists of every creeping, crawl- 
ing or flying thing that is small enough to be swallowed. 









NATURE STUDY. 



201 



While it will not touch a piece of fresh meat, woe to the 
snail, insect or worm that comes within his reach. It is 
with the destruction of insects and worms that the toad 
helps man so greatly. 

Bulletin 46 of the Hatch (Mass.) station says the toad 
lives ten to forty years, does not begin to raise young till 
the fourth year, but then lays over a 1,000 eggs a year. It 
has lived two years without food, but cannot live long 
under water. It never takes dead or motionless food. It 

takes its food by means of its 
tongue alone, and it operates this 
so rapidly that the eye cannot fol- 
low its motion. It catches and 
devours bees, wasps, yellow jack- 
ets, ants, beetles, worms, spiders, 
snails, bugs, grasshoppers, crick- 
ets, weevils, caterpillars, moths, 
etc. The station examined with 
a microscope the contents of the 
How the Toad Catches His Prey, stomachs of seven toads in April, 
thirty in May, thirty-six in June, twenty-six in July, ten 
in August and seven in September — 149 in all. On an 
average it was found that 80 per cent of the toad's food 
consists of harmful insects, and 11 per cent was of such 
beneficial insects as bees, spiders, lady bugs, etc. The 
stomach that doesn't flinch at yellow jackets, wasps, 
blister beetles and click beetles or pinch bugs, would 
seem to be prepared for anything in the bug line, and it 
doubtless is. The quantity of food that a toad's stomach 




202 NATURE STUDY. 

can accommodate is remarkable. In one were found 
seventy-seven myriapods,in another fifty-five army worms, 
in another fifteen gypsy moth caterpillars, in another nine 
ants, six cut worms, five myriapods, six sow bugs, one 
weevil, and one wire worm beetle. In twenty-four hours 
the toad consumes enough food to fill its stomach four 
times. Feeding at the rate above mentioned a single 
toad will in three months devour over 10,000 insects. 

If every ten of these would have done one cent dam- 
age, the toad would have saved ten dollars. Evidently 
the toad is a valuable friend of the farmer, gardener and 
fruit grower, and can be made especially useful in green- 
house, garden and berry patch. 

If one reads in old books and listens to the fairy tales 
and other stories common everywhere he will hear won- 
derful thing of the toad; but most of the things are wholly 
untrue. Probably every boy and girl living in the country 
has heard that if one takes a toad in his hand or if a toad 
touches him anywhere, he will get warts. This is not so 
at all, as has been proved over and over again. If a toad 
is handled gently and petted a little it soon learns not to 
be afraid and seems to enjoy kindness and attention. He 
is really one of the most harmless creatures in the world 
and has never been known to harm a man or child. 
Every boy and girl should learn to protect this humble 
servant of the farmer. 




CHAPTER XXII. 
HOW A SQUASH PLANT GETS OUT OF PRISON. 

If you were to plant the seeds of a Hubbard or Boston 
Marrow Squash in loose warm earth in a pan or box, 
and leave them for a week or ten days, you 
will find, upon examination, a colony of 
plants like that shown in Fig. I. Now, who 
would ever suspect that these curious plants 
would ever grow into squash vines, so differ- 
ent are they from the vines which we know 
in the garden? 

It may happen, however, that one or two of 
the plants will look like that shown in Fig. 2. 
Here the seed seems to have come up on 
top of the plant, and one is reminded of the curious 
way in which beans come up on the stalk of the 
young plant. If we study the matter, however, 
as we may do at some future time, we will find 
there is a great difference in the ways in which 
the squashes and the beans raise their seeds out 
of the ground. We are curious to know why one 
of these squash plants brings its seeds up out 
of the ground whilst the others do not. In order 
to find out why it is, we must ask the plant, and 
this is what we call an experiment. 

First, pull up two plants. The first one ( Fig. i ) 

will be seen to have the seed-coats attached to the fi^. 2. 

203 



Fig. 1. 



204 



NATURE STUDY. 



Fig. 3- 




very lowest part of the stalk below the soil, but the other 
plant has no seed at that point. Now, let us plant more 
seeds, a dozen or more of them, so that we may have enough 
to examine two or three times a day for several days. About 
the second day we shall find a little point or root-like por- 
tion breaking out of the sharp end of the 
seed, as in Fig. 3, and if we examine them 
each day this root becomes longer and 
longer, until three or four days later they look as repre- 
^ZZmZ^j sented in Fig. 4. But do you notice a 
most curious thing about this germinat- 
ing seed? Just where the root is break- 
ing out of the seed there is a little peg or 
Fig. 4. projection (at a in Fig. 5.) This peg 

seems to be forcing the seed apart, but it will be seen 
that the seed is really being forced 
apart by the stem or stalk above the 
peg, for this is now growing longer, 
and the seed-leaves are trying to back 
out of the seed. In Fig. 6 we see the 
progress of the operation, and in Fig. 8 
the plant straightening up. If we 
were to see the plant in Fig. 5 "com- 
ing up," it would look like Fig. 7. 

There is one thing about this curi- 
ous squash plant which we must not 
fail to notice, and this is the fact that 
these first two leaves of the plantlet 
came out of the seed and did not grow Fig.s- 




NATURE STUDY. 



205 





Fig. 6. 



out of the plant itself. Notice, too, that these leaves 
are much smaller when they are first 
drawn out of the seed than they are 
when the plantlet has 
straightened itself up. 
That is, these leaves in- Fig. 7. 

crease very much in size after they reach the light 

and air. 

The next leaves which appear will be very 

different from these first or seed-leaves. 

They are called the true leaves, and grow 

right out of the little plant itself (Fig. 9). If 





we pull up 
the plant 
very care- 
fully, we 
^ shall find Fig. 8. 

that the roots have gone 
deeply into the soil, and 
sent out many little fine 
roots which support the 
Fig. 9. plant. Be sure to com- 

pare the squash plant with the bean plant; also with 
other plants in the gardens. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
SOME TENT-MAKERS AND THEIR TENTS* 

If we turn to plate No. 24 on the Scroll, we will find 
in natural colors the little fellows who build the tents in 

the orchards as here 
illustrated. We have 
selected the Apple Tree 
Caterpillar as our sub- 
ject, because it is com- 
mon everywhere, and by 
teaching the children 
how to keep it out of 
the orchard, we can 
make this subject of 
real practical value. 

If we examine the 
apple trees closely in 
early spring we will find 
the egg masses on the 
twigs. Look for them sharply, as they look like a portion 
of the twig, swollen or budded. The egg mass is covered 
with a water-proof coat of varnish to preserve them and 
keep them dry during the storms of the winter. If the eggs 
are near the hatching period, the varnish will have scaled 
off, revealing the tiny white eggs; if not, remove the 

varnish with a knife or pin and examine the eggs closely. 

206 




A Young Colony of Tent Makers. 




NATURE STUDY. 207 

Here is a little moth or miller that last July was float- 
ing about the tree upon 
which we found these 
eggs. As soon as the eggs 
hatch in the spring we find 
a very hungry lot of little 
Moth. black caterpillars. They 

are ready to go out on the branches and eat the fresh 
leaves from the trees. 

The tent in which the caterpillar lives is made of very 
fine silk which he spins. He stretches it upon the fork- 
ing branch of the tree in which he lives. 

The caterpillar sheds his skin about five times; the 
first time when three days old, the second four days later, 
the third about six days after the second. After each 
molt the color and markings of the caterpillar are some- 
what changed. In ordinary seasons it is about the middle 
of May that the caterpillar gets his growth. They will 
soon begin to spin their cocoons. Look in the orchard 
for the cocoon; then, with a pair of fine scissors open it 
carefully, so as not to hurt the inmate and see what you 
find. By and by if the cocoon is not disturbed the moth 
will emerge therefrom and in turn will deposit eggs upon 
a twig of the tree just as the moth shown in the picture 
did last year. 

METHODS FOR DESTROYING THE CATERPILLAR. 

These little caterpillars are robbers, because they 
destroy the orchard which the farmer has worked hard to 



208 



NATURE STUDY. 



plant, and it is, therefore, right that they should be 
destroyed. The best way is to collect the egg masses in 
winter and early spring and burn them. In the larger 
trees we must wait until later on and use other methods. 
Early morning, late afternoons and dark days are the best 
time to find the caterpillar in his tent. A good way to 
destroy the tents is by wiping them out with a long pole, 
on one end of which is a rag saturated with kerosene, or 
by burning them out with the torch. It is best to destroy 
the caterpillars early in the season, before they have done 
much damage. If the trees are sprayed with Paris green 
in the early spring when the caterpillars are just beginning 
to feed they will be destroyed. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 




A Morning Song. 



OUR FEATHERED FRIENDS. 

With the return of each spring-time we are glad to 

welcome back the song birds who have been away from 

us during the long, cold months of winter. Who has not 
seen the blue-birds exploring the 
little houses prepared for their recep- 
tion, or watched the wrens pulling 
the sticks from the old hollow rails, 
and seeming wild with joy to see the 
place again? Then there is the robin 
who sits in the top of a high tree and 
sings his glad song. Soon the larks, 
the thrushes and scores of other 

birds will take up their summer residence with us. 
There are people who have not 

learned to appreciate the music of 

the birds; there are boys who kill 

them and girls who want to catch 

them and put them into cages, and 

we are sorry to say it, but there 

are older people who imagine that 

a stuffed bird looks nice upon a 

hat. Let us take the hammer off 

the old gun, boys, and give pussy so much meat that she 

will not care to hunt birds, and keep away the boys who 

209 




Home of the Bluebird. 



2IO NATURE STUDY. 

steal eggs and carry sling shots, air guns, etc. Protect 
the birds, and they will not only save the trees and plants 
from insects, but will furnish the finest music of earth 
each day. 

The Blue Jay is one of the most familiar birds in the 
country. He is a noisy fellow most of the time, and early 
in the morning his clatter can usually be heard in the tops 
of the young oak trees. He is a mischievous bird, and 
is especially fond of robbing the nests of other birds. To 
a certain extent he makes up for his mischief during the 
spring by consuming an immense number of insects. 

He is disliked by nearly every other variety of bird 
because he breaks up their homes at every opportunity. 
The robin especially hates him, and if he finds a Jay any- 
where near his nest he will drive him from the neighbor- 
hood as quickly as possible. The Jay stays with us the 
year round, and unless disturbed seldom leaves his favor- 
ite haunts. His nest is built in the old thick trees, and is 
formed of roots, twigs, etc. 

The Red Headed Woodpecker. He is a bird well known 
throughout the United States. One can hardly make an 
excursion through the woods without hearing him ham- 
mering away high up in a dead tree. We also see him 
about the orchards, where he goes to obtain the worms 
and insects he finds there. Although he has a taste for 
fruit, and has been accused of doing considerable injury, 
he really does more good than harm, as he devours thou- 
sands of insects that penetrate the bark of the trees to 
deposit their eggs and larvae. About the middle of Sep- 



NATURE STUDY. 211 

tember he starts for a warmer climate, and usually travels 
at night, stopping for rest and food during the day. 

The Blue Bird appears early in the season, usually 
early in March. He often stays with us until November, 
and, if the weather is mild, a few of the braver and har- 
dier ones never entirely desert us. Before the coming of 
the English Sparrow, the Blue Bird usually was the first 
to occupy the little bird-house prepared for his reception. 
The male bird has a bright blue coat, as shown on the 
chart, while the female is more soberly habited. We are 
all glad to welcome the exquisite tune of the Blue Bird 
when he returns each spring. 

The Brown Thrush makes his appearance in the eastern 
and middle states about the middle of May. You will find 
him around the hedges, or sometimes in the tree-top, 
singing his welcome song. The Brown Thrush loves to 
make his home among the bright foliage of the evergreens, 
and it is there that the nest is usually built. His song is 
heard just after sunrise, and he closes the day with song, 
but sometimes he is heard singing at intervals during the 
day. 

The Bobolink. This bird has many names. In some 
sections of the country he is called the "Rice Bird,'' and 
in others, the "Reed Bird," but his most popular title is 
"Bobolink." His winters are spent in Jamaica. He makes 
his appearance in the Southern States early in May, and, 
by the middle of the month, in the lower part of Pennsyl- 
vania. Before June he finds his way to New York, 
through the New England States, and as far North as 



212 NATURE STUDY. 

Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, where he 
remains throughout the summer. His nest is a small, 
plain one, and is built on the ground by his industrious 
wife. Five beautiful white eggs, spotted with brown, are 
laid. 

We all know the Crow. He is seen about the fields and 
in the highest trees. We have found him this time in mis- 
chief, stealing an ear of corn, but, although he does con- 
siderable damage, his food consists in the main of rep- 
tiles, frogs, lizards, etc. He builds his nest in a very high 
tree, "where it is almost impossible for mischevious boys 
to reach him. It is said that an intelligent crow once 
built for himself a peculiar summer residence, the mate- 
rial used being gold, silver and steel spectacle frames 
which he had stolen from an optician in the city. Over 
eighty frames were used for this purpose and they 
were ingeniously woven together. The nest was quite a 
work of art. 

Bob White is one of our best-known friends in the 
country and seems to thrive best in the company of man. 
He easily becomes tame and makes his nest near the 
farm houses. His rail is heard in the fields where he goes 
in search of food. He destroys injurious insects and the 
seeds of weeds. His nest is found on the ground, usually 
in a depression, in the deep grass, but sometimes he hides 
it under a low bush. He remains with us throughout the 
cold winter and is sometimes seen in the barnyard, feed- 
ing with the fowls of the farm. 



NATURE STUDY. 213 

The Golden Oriole is strictly an American bird. He is 
a fine songster and often in captivity he imitates various 
tunes. He feeds upon fruits and insects. His nest is 
found suspended from a forked and slender branch and it 
is constructed of grass, wool, hair and other like materials. 
He shows wonderful genius in the construction of his 
hanging nest. 

The American Robin is unquestionably the best-known 
native bird. He belongs to the Thrush family, of which 
the Mocking Bird, Cat Bird and Brown Thrush are also 
members, and is considerably larger than his red-breasted 
English cousin. He often becomes quite tame, following 
the farmer to obtain the worms and insects as the plow 
exposes them by turning the soil. He feeds for a month 
or so on strawberries and cherries, but destroys the larvae 
of thousands of insects in the soil and proves a real bless- 
ing to man. John Burroughs, the bird lover, says he is 
the most native and domestic of our birds. We are glad 
to welcome him as one of the earliest heralds of spring, 
coming as he does, so early in March or April. Who has 
not heard his carol in the tree-top early in the morning or 
just after a thunder shower in the summer? 

The Screech Owl is a sleepy fellow and during the day 
hides away in the dark woods and sits upon the limb of a 
tree all day long, but when night comes he is a very 
lively bird. He flies swiftly and silently in pursuit of 
food and thrives best on mice, beetles and vermin of 
many kinds. He is one of our best friends in this respect, 



214 NATWRE STUDY. 

even though he does sometimes dine upon smaller birds. 
It is certainly a mistake not to protect the little Screech 
Owl, as he is a good friend to the farmer. 

The Meadow Lark inhabits eastern North America, 
Canada, southern Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, and is 
also found in eastern Kansas, Texas and on the Gulf coast. 
He remains in northern habitations only as a summer res- 
ident, and the fallow fields, meadows, pastures and clear- 
ings are his favorite haunts or resorts. How often we 
hear his clear, whistling notes in early spring. He is 
another of the farmers' firm friends and destroys thou- 
sands of insects, spiders, caterpillars' worms, moths, etc., 
and eats but little grain. He is one of the birds whose 
society the farmer should cultivate. 

The Cardinal. This bird is known by several different 
names, among them the Red Bird, Virginia Nightingale 
and Crested Red Bird. Early in May he begins to pre- 
pare his nest, which is usually fixed in a bush. The nest 
is constructed of small twigs, dry weeds, bits of bark, 
etc., and it usually has a lining of soft, fine grass. The 
Cardinal stays with us [all the year round except in the 
states farthest north. They are found in Southern Penn- 
sylvania throughout the year. They are always known by 
their beautiful red plumage and strength of voice and 
variety of notes. 

The White- Breasted Nuthatch. This bird is often called 
" Sapsucker ".The term is imperfectly applied. The bird 
does not suck sap from the trees, but knocks off pieces 



NATURE STUDY. 21 5 

of decayed or loose bark to obtain the grubs or larvae 
hidden beneath. It is another of the farmers' feather- 
coated friends. The nest of this little fellow is usually 
found in a decayed trunk of a tree. The entrance if often 
through a knot hole or a small round hole with a large 
cavity at the end of it. We can easily learn to know 
these little birds. They are bluish gray in color with 
white undervests. Their tails are short and never touch 
the tree, nor does the body unless they are suddenly 
frightened. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
HOW THE TREES LOOK IN WINTER. 

Only the growing, open season is thought to be attrac- 
tive in the country. To many the winter is bare and 
cheerless. The trees are naked, the flowers are under the 
snow, the birds have flown; the only bright and cheery 
spot is the winter fireside; but after all, winter is not life- 
less and cheerless; it is only dormant. The external 
world fails to interest us because we have not been trained 
to see, and to know it, and because the vigorous weather 
and the snow prevent us from going afield. Let us con- 
sider the subject a moment. In the summer time we dis- 
tinguish the kinds of trees chiefly by means of the shape 
and the foliage. In the winter time but the shape remains, 
and the frame-work of the tree is most conspicuous. 
Observe the outline of a tree against the dull winter sky. 
It does not matter what kind of a tree it is. Notice the 
height, shape and size at the top; how many main branches 
there are; how the branches are arranged on the main 
trunk, the direction of the branches; whether the twigs 
are few or many, crooked or straight. Having observed 
these points, compare one kind of tree with another, and 
note how they differ in these features. Among the com- 
mon trees are the different varieties of hickory, of oak 
and of maple. We all know the steeple-like form of the 
lombardy poplar. What is its structure? If you know a 

beech tree standing in the field, contrast it with a lom- 

216 



NATURE STUDY. 217 

bardy poplar. These two trees represent extremes of 
vertical and horizontal branching. Notice carefully the 
winter color of each tree, and the character of the bark. 
How does the bark differ between elms and maples, oaks 
and chestnuts, birches and beeches, hickories and walnuts? 
Why does the bark separate into the ridges, or peel off 
into strips? Is it not associated in the increase of the 
diameter of the trunk? The method of breaking of the 
bark is different and peculiar for each kind of tree. Look 
at these things and think about them. 

Consciously or unconsciously we think of trees much 
as we think of persons. They suggest thoughts and feel- 
ings which are also attributes of people. A tree is weep- 
ing, again restful, spirited, quiet or somber. That is, trees 
have expression. The expression rests in the observer, 
however, not in the tree. Therefore, the more the person 
is trained to observe and to reflect, the more sensitive his 
mind becomes to the things about him, and the more 
meaning the trees have. No one loves nature who does 
not love trees. 

How shall one increase his love for trees? First, by 
knowing them. He learns their attributes and names. 
Knowing them in winter is one of the ways of becoming 
acquainted. Second, endeavoring to determine what 
thought or feeling they chiefly express. The slippery 
elm is stiff and hard, the American elm is soft and grace- 
ful; the lombardy poplar is prim and precise; the oak is 
rugged, stirring and bold. What about the apple tree, 
the hickory tree and a score of other different trees to be 
found about us? Let us study the trees more carefully. 
They will soon become our friends. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR DRAWING TREES IN THEIR WINTER 

ASPECTS* 

Our main object should be to train the boys and girls 
to observe, in order to acquire a correctness of percep- 
tion, for " education amongst us consists too much in 
telling; not enough in training." 

One of the greatest difficulties is to impress upon the 
minds of beginners the fact that they must think while 
they look and draw. Look repeatedly at the object. It 
is better to observe for five minutes and draw for one, 
than to observe for one and draw for five. 

Let us apply a few essential questions that will help 
us to determine at least the kind of tree it is, the race to 
which it belongs; for first we must get its general char- 
acter, see its big proportions and shape, and later, must 
search for its individualities. 

Is it tall for its greatest width? 

How far does the trunk extend before dividing? 

At what height do the lowest branches begin? 

What is their general direction? 

Do they appear to radiate from the trunk? 

How do the main branches compare in size with the 
trunk? 

Are they crooked or straight? 

The manner of branch growth must be studied care- 
fully. 

218 



NATURE STUDY. 219 

We notice in our elm that the trunk divides at about a 
fourth of its height into several main branches. (Fig. I.) 
Compare with other trees in the forest, the field and 
orchard, and see how they differ. After such compari- 
sons we may take up our lesson. 

We will try it on the drawing board first and with lead 
pencil and paper afterward. The drawing board should 
be perpendicular to the direction in which it is seen, 
for if the board is tilted far backward or is horizontal, 
our tree will probably have been drawn longer than it 
should be. 

The tendency of the beginner is to see and draw too 
much in detail. It is most essential that we look first for 
the large shapes, the greatest dimensions; next for the 
smaller ones; last for detail. It is not well to work too 
close to the drawing. Occasionally sit well back or stand 
in order to obtain the general effect of the drawing, to see 
that the big shapes are right and that the spirit of the 
tree has not been lost. 

As an aid to placing our drawing so as to best fill the 
space it has to occupy, we may use a finder. This is noth- 
ing more than a small piece of stiff paper or cardboard 
about 5x8 inches, in which is kept a small rectangular 
opening %xl inch; the size may vary somewhat. We 
may look through this opening, the card acting as a frame 
to our picture. We may include more or less in the 
finder by varying its distance from the eye. This will 
help us to decide just where on the drawing board to 
place our tree. 



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222 NATURE STUDY. 

We would not place ourselves within a dozen yards of 
our tree if we wished to get its general eff ect;' therefore, 
we must have plenty of foreground in our drawing. 

We may conceive of the general shape of the tree by 
looking at it. Now imagine lines joining its outermost 
points; this will give the general mass or shape of our 
tree. Now if we represent these outermost points con- 
tained in these lines by sketching lightly these "blocking- 
in " lines, as they are called, we obtain the general shape 
of the elm. (Fig. 2.) Make these lines very light, using 
a free-arm motion. Now, before going farther, we again 
test these new points to see if they occupy their right 
positions in relation to the height and width. Having 
tested these smaller dimensions we may draw lightly the 
main branches. 

After having indicated their general direction and 
character of growth, we may indicate some of the smaller 
branches and twigs. (Fig. 3.) All this work should be 
carried out without erasing; all corrections should be 
made by slightly heavier lines. 

Now we will sharpen our pencil to a good point and 
go over the drawing with a fine dark line, carefully study- 
ing, meantime, the character and spirit of the tree. Now 
erase the lighter and superfluous lines, as the dark lines 
remain distinct enough to indicate our drawing. 

Proceed to line in the drawing by going over it with 
definite lines. We may also accent and bring out certain 
parts of the tree stronger than others by heavier or shade 
lines and short strong markings called accents. These 



NATURE STUDY. 



223 



are needed especially at the junction and underside of 
branches and where one wishes to give the object a nearer 
appearance. Be cautious in using them, however; but 
lack of space does not permit lengthy discussion of the 
subject. 

To Test the Drawing — Close one eye. The pencil 
may be used to test the drawing by holding it in front of 
1 one at arm's length (as in Fig. 

L—iw 4) perpendicular to the direc- 

tion in which the object is seen; 
also revolving it in a plane per- 
pendicular to the direction in 
which the object is seen in order 
to compare one dimension with 
another. For example, hold 
your pencil horizontally at 
arm's length, so that its blunt end covers the outermost 
left-hand point of the elm. Slide your thumb along the 
pencil till it covers the extreme right-hand point; retain 
that measurement (keeping the same position in your 
chair, pencil always at arm's length); revolve the pencil 
in the same plane until it coincides with the height of 
the elm, at the same time lowering it so that the end of 
the thumb covers the lowest point of the tree; note care- 
fully the point that the blunt end covers; raise the pencil 
so that the end of the thumb covers that point, noting 
again where the blunt end occurs, and notice how many 
times and over the width goes into the height. In our 
elm (Fig. 3) we find that the width goes about once and 




Fig. 4. 



224 NATURE STUDY. 

six-sevenths, into the height, or a little short of twice. If 
the latter statement is preferred, we must bear in mind 
the proportion left over. 

Do not use the scale side of a ruler or marks on the 
pencil or object used in order to test the proportions. A 
scale or other mechanical means should not be used in 
free-hand drawing. The teacher should have a spool of 
black thread and should give a piece about 2 feet 6 inches 
long to each pupil. An eraser, a knife, or some small 
article may be attached to one end of the thread. By 
holding the weighted thread as a plumb-line in front of 
us, we have an absolutely vertical line; so by having it 
intersect a desired point of our tree we may obtain the 
relative position of other points to the right and left of 
this intersected point. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
HOME MAKING. 

It is the attractive and pretty rural home which first 
and chiefly interests the child in rural life. A neat lawn 
or a flower bed is more likely to influence the child to love 
country life than a good field of potatoes or corn would. 
Likes and dislikes are formed earlier than we are aware. 
Money considerations do not appeal to the child strongly. 
He must be interested on his intellectual and sentimental 
side. His eyes must be opened to the great world of 
interesting things all about him for most persons "have 
eyes and see not." 

How often we hear the question asked: " Why is it 
the boys and girls in the country leave their homes for 
the crowded city?" We cannot here go into details, but 
we believe that the most successful means of keeping 
young men and women in the country is to make the old 
home more attractive than the city. During the past few 
years the best thoughts of many able men and women has 
been given to the condition of the farm and the status of 
agriculture. Movements looking to the betterment of 
rural affairs are now in progress. It is probable that many 
of them are productive of permanently good results. 

Great numbers of farmers earn enough as it is, but 

many farm homes are not designed to afford the greatest 

pleasure and comfort of life. Successful and enjoyable 

farming depends largely upon one's attitude of mind 

225 



226 NATURE STUDY. 

towards the things with which he deals and lives. The 
child is little influenced by the profit and loss side of 
farming. A pleasant, happy home is the very first means 
of keeping the boy on the farm. 

One of the most attractive things about a farm home 
can be the flowers. Many a rough corner or unsightly 
spot can be hidden by carefully selecting plants, judiciously 
placed. A good, small garden is much more satisfactory 
than a poor large garden. Prepare the land thoroughly, 
fertilize it, select the kinds of plants you like, and then 
take care of them. 

Plants for Screens. — The wild cucumber, the cobea, 
sweet peas, morning glories, flowering beans, and other 
climbers can be used to splendid advantage. The large 
leafed plants can also be used. The castor bean, sun- 
flowers, nicotianas and striped or Japanese corn are among 
the most prominent ones. 

Kinds of Annuals. — In the selection of these plants 
one's personal preference must be the guide, yet there are 
some groups which may be considered to be standard or 
general purpose plants: Petunias, phloxes, pinks, or 
dianthuses; larkspurs, or delphiniums; calliopsis or coreop- 
sis; pot marigold, or calendula; batchelor's button, or cen- 
taurea cyanus; clarkias, zinnias, marigolds, or tagetes; 
collinsias, gilias California poppies, or eschscholtzias; 
verbenas, poppies, China asters, sweet peas, memophilas, 
portulaccas. silenes, candy tufts, or iberis, allyssum ; stocks, 
or matthiolas, morning glories, nasturtiums, or tropaelums. 



NATURE STUDY. 227 

Preparation of the Soil: Prepare the ground thor- 
oughly and deep. See that the soil contains enough 
humus or vegetable mold to make it rich, and enable it to 
hold moisture. A little commercial fortilizer may help 
in starting off the plants quickly. Prepare the land as 
early in the spring as it is in fit condition, and prevent 
evaporation by keeping the surface loose by means of 
raking. Sow the seeds freely. Many will not germinate. 
Even if they do all germinate the combined strength of 
the rising plantlets will break the crust of the hard soil, 
and in the thinning which follows only strong and prom- 
ising plants are allowed to remain. Seed pods should be 
removed as soon as formed, as a plant will continue to 
bloom for a longer period if they are not allowed to 
produce seeds. 



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CHAPTER XXVIII. 

COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO USE THE CHAUTAU- 
QUA INDUSTRIAL ART DESK. 

PLATE I— VERTICAL SCRIPT. 

Position. Face desk squarely and lean slightly for- 
ward, but do not touch the desk with body. Rest arms 
freely and evenly on desk, using left hand to steady book 
or paper, and place feet squarely on floor. Place book 
parallel with front edge of desk with middle of copy line a 
little to the right of middle of body. Take pen lightly be- 
tween thumb and first two fingers of right hand. Bend 
fingers slightly and rest first one on top of holder about one 
inch from point of pen, thumb resting against holder oppo- 
site the first joint of forefinger. The pen should point in the 
general direction of forearm. Rest hand upon desk on 
nails of third and fourth fingers, but do not touch desk 
with wrist or side of hand. If lines formed by pen are 
vertical when fingers are moved easily and naturally, it is 
proof that correct position has been taken. 

PLATE 2 — GERMAN SCRIPT. 

In this is an opportunity to practice on graceful curves, 
and also to learn the names of the German letters, which 
are as follows, ah, bay, tsay, day, a, eff, gay, hah, e, yut, 
kah, ell, emn, enn, oh, pay, kod, err, ess, tay, 65, fow, vay, 
ix, ipsilon and tset. 

With these you begin the study of German, and, 
besides practicing beautiful writing, make a useful acqui- 



230 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

sition to your education. Every one should learn at least 
one language besides his mother tongue, and what more 
useful to us than the German, who have so many from the 
"Fatherland" as good citizens on our shores? 

PLATE 3 — COMMERCIAL LETTERING AND ARITHMETIC. 

These letters are used by shipping clerks in marking 
packages, and are convenient for labels, special headings, 
lettering maps, etc. No boy's education should be con- 
sidered complete until he is adept in their use. A knowl- 
edge of them has proven the stepping-stone to fortune in 
many instances. Observe that they are formed by down- 
ward strokes of the brush or pen. 

The figures are vertical, in keeping with the system of 
Penmanship, and each is one and one-half spaces high, 
except 6, which is two spaces high, and 7 and 9, which 
extend one-half space below the line. They are one 
space wide, except 1. 

PLATE 4 — STANDARD BUSINESS FORMS. 

Everyone ought to be able to recognize correct busi- 
ness forms and to write them out upon occasion. The 
forms given are standard; the bill, the receipt, the draft, 
the note, the statement of account, are those in most 
common use. 

Study the form. Write it out on the slate, omitting 
names, dates, amounts, etc. Memorize the wording of the 
form. Erase! Write it out again from memory. Now 
fill into the form names and amounts familiar to you. 
Practice on each form until perfect. 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 23I 

PROPER FORMS FOR ENDORSING CHECK OR DRAFT AND NOTE. 





PLATE 5 — SHORTHAND. 

Any one who appreciates the importance which the 
profession of stenography has come to occupy in the 
commercial world, and how largely the entire commercial 
organization is dependent upon it, will appreciate how 
much it is to the advantage of young people who famil- 
iarize themselves with this work. 



232 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

The system of shorthand which we have outlined 
below is one of those most extensively in use, as easily 
learned as any, and one which, if thoroughly mastered, 
will give speed and accuracy equal to any of the principal 
systems adopted in general business. 

CONSONANTS. 

Write the consonant strokes downward, with excep- 
tion of L and straight R, which are written upward, and 
the horizontal strokes, which are made from left to right. 
The pairs of signs, as PB,TD, etc., represent the soft and 
hard sounds formed by the vocal sounds. Use the K 
stroke for hard C. Soft C is the same as S. Use K in 
cane, and S in ice. The G stroke represents the hard 
sound of G. For soft G use J. In ordinary spelling DH 
does not occur, but this distinguishes between the hard 
and soft sounds of TH. ZH represents the hard sound 
of Sand Z. 

VOWELS. 

Heavy dots and dashes represent the long vowels, and 
light ones the short vowels. 

Study carefully the Vowel scale on Scroll, committing 
it thoroughly. Vowel positions are counted from the 
beginning of the consonant stroke, hence downward on 
the down strokes, upward on the up strokes, and from 
left to right on the horizontal strokes, as follows: 

ULl ffl _^3_ 

Read the vowels at the left of upright strokes and above 
horizontal ones, before the consonant. Those at the right 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 233 

of upright strokes and below horizontal ones, after the 
the consonant. 

1 
Aim Egg Ale May Go Lay 

The dipthongs occupy first position, except EW, which 
is in third position. 

POSITION. 

Position is the greatest factor in the speed and legi- 
bility of shorthand. 

Consonant outlines are written in three positions, 
above, on and through, or below the line, thus: 

First position. Second position. Third position. 

Always use ruled paper in writing shorthand. To 
determine position the consonant shall occupy, place it 
in first position, if the only vowel or accented one is of first 
position; in second position, if it is a second position 
vowel, and third accordingly, e. g.\ 

Ought Ate Eat Endow Up Income 

Absence of a base line indicates second position. 

When the dipthong I begins a word, attach it to the 
stem, if it makes a good joining. 

When two vowels are written on the same side of the 
stem, place the one pronounced nearest the consonant 
closer than the other: 



234 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 



Leo Owen 

When a vowel comes between two consonant strokes, 
write it after the first stem, if it is a first position vowel or 
a long second position vowel. If it is a short second posi- 
tion, or a third position vowel, place it before the second 
stem: 

- fe - * - t ■ 

Dog Tape Beg Tip 

With two vowels between consonant strokes, write first 
vowel beside the first stem, and the second beside the 
other, regardless of vowel position: 



Deity Zion 

JOINING. 

In joining stems, first consider legibility, then speed. 
To double a consonant stem make the straight ones twice 
as long, and add another distinct stem to the curved ones. 
When a light and heavy stem join without angle, shade 
them into eacli other gradually. 



K-K M-M P-B T-D 

Always make an angle between F or V, followed by 
N or NG; also between L-M, H-S, M-R, S-SH and TH-F. 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 235 

TWO STROKES FOR R, L AND SH. 

R has two forms for convenience in joining, and to 
denote final vowels or their omission. SH and L are writ- 
ten both upward and downward for the same reasons. 

Upward R is often as nearly vertical as CH, but being 
made upward and CH downward, no confusion arises. 

R-CH R-K K-CH K-R T-CH T-R 

( 1 ) Use upward R when it is the first sound in a word. 
Use downward R when it is the first or only consonant, 
and preceded by a vowel. 

__^.__...^ — 3 — ^.._.._ 

Ray Reap Err Arm 

(2) Use upward R when it is the last consonant and 
followed by a vowel, and downward R when it is the last 
sound in a word. 

_v,r:..__„_V- 

Burrow Bare 

(3) To secure better outlines, use upward R before 
CH, J, TH, DH, F and V; downward R before M and H. 

(4) Upward L is generally used. Use downward L 
when it is the first consonant in a word, preceded by a 
vowel and followed by a horizontal stem. Also when it is 
the last sound in a word of two or more consonants. 



236 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

(5) The downward SH is commonly used, but the up 
stroke is needed when SH is the last consonant sound fol- 
lowed by a vowel, or for ease in joining. 

^: _ w . 

Mushy Bushy 

CIRCLES AND LOOPS. 

Use a small circle for initial S and S or Z at the mid- 
dle or end of a word. 

--.r ^ -t------- 

Seat Raising Choose Task 

Use a large circle for any syllable equivalent to Sez, 
Zez, Ses, Zes, Cis or Ces. It is used at the beginning, mid- 
dle and end of words. 

-^ :_<?- xrv --f-- 

Possess Houses Sesame Exist 
Write the circle on the right hand side of upright 
straight stems, on the upper side of straight horizontal 
stems, and on the inside of curved stems. Upward R takes 
the circle on same side as K and G. 

With a medial circle write the preceding vowel after 
the first stem, no matter what its position. 

Desk. Reason. 

When the consonant N follows the s circle in the mid- 
dle or at end of a word, it may be indicated by a little curl 
on the opposite side of the stem, thus: 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 237 



Arsenic Moisten 

Use the stem S when it is the only Consonant in the 
word, or the first consonant, and preceded by a vowel; also 
when it is the last consonant and followed by a vowel. 

):..__.. 



---~t- 

Say Asp Dizzy 



A small loop is used for st at the beginning, and for si 
or zd in the middle or at the end of a word. 

A t If - 

State Testify Taste. 

A large loop may be made in the middle, or at the 
end of an outline for the syllables ster, sture,stur, etc. 

_ —"If 

Master Pasture District 

The small circle may be made on the back of a stem 
after a circle or loop to add the final syllable es, thus: 

^ _ 

Lists 

The curl mentioned for ?z may be used for either n or 
ng after a final loop. 

----- -v. 

Casting Mastering Piston 



238 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

HOOKS. 

There are five initial hooks, /, r, w, y and in* A small 
hook on the circle side of straight stems, and a large one 
on the inside of curved stems are used for /. A small 
hook on the " opposite" side of straight stems and on the 
inside of curved stems denotes r. L takes only the r 
hook. Upward R takes only the / hook and downward R 
the r hook. Use the stem signs for L and R when those 
consonants have full, separate sounds, as 

— ^ ^ — 

Tire Below 

These hooks are also used for pie, ble, fer y per, etc. 

„.._.k_......_\_._.._:^_....^ 

Able Apple Offer Fibre 

The s circle is written with / and r hooks. It is placed 
inside all / hooks, and inside the r hook on curved stems. 
With straight stems, the s circle and small loops are 
written on the r hook side of the stem without the r hook, 
which is understood. In the middle of a word the s circle 
may be written on either side of the stem. 



X 



Express Jasper Exclaim 

The w and y hooks are made large and written on the 
circle side of straight stems for w ; on the opposite side 
for y. 

— ^ ^- E 



Quick Square Twist 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 23Q 

The initial syllables in, en and un are expressed before 
an s circle on the r hook side of a straight stem, or before 
the circle on M, L, R, SH and W by a small curl on the 
opposite side of the stem. 



_y-_ _ , T ._ 

Unseemly Inscribe 

The curl is also written inside the / hook on curved 
stems and inside the w hook. 

;_£_n,_ 



Inquire Influx 

FINAL HOOKS. 

m 

There are also five final hooks,/ v f n, shun and ter. 
The /or v hook is written on the circle side of straight 
stems, thus: 

Puff Tough Serve 

The .y circle may be written inside this hook. Do not 
use the hook if a vowel follows the sound of /or v. 

A small hook on the " opposite" side of straight stems 
and inside of curved ones indicates n, as: 

Ten Fine Cane 

This hook should not be used if a vowel follows the 
sound of n. The s circle may also be written inside this 
hook. Change the n hook on a curved stem to the N 
stroke before a large circle or loop. 



240 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

; ^ _v^ 

Fence Fences 

The syllables tion, cion, sion, cian, etc., equivalent to 
shun, are represented by a large final hook on the circle 
side of straight stems. 

-v ^ 

Addition Motion Action 

A large final hook on the " opposite" side of straight 
stems represents ter, tar, titer, der, etc. 

s^> _J V *y 

Rather Tighter Gather 

DOUBLE LENGTHS. 

Doubling is used to add ther, ture, thur, dor, dure, etc. 
All curved stems may be doubled. Straight stems may 
be doubled only when they have an n or /hook. The 
positions for horizontal double lengths correspond with 
those of single lengths. 

Upward double lengths are written in the same rela- 
tive positions as single lengths, thus: 



Downward double lengths are as follows: 



HALVING. 

Halve any stem to add / or d. If it is necessary to 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 241 

make a distinction, use halving for / and write the conso- 
nant stroke for d. 

v — v- ----- 

Bet Bed 

The positions of half lengths are above, on and below 
the line. 

The consonant H may often be omitted from the out- 
line. It may be indicated in many cases by a light dot 
beside the vowel. 

-- -v x 

Heap Hope 

Also by the h " tick " as 

Hammer Heavy Unhook 

BRIEF W AND Y. 

Either half of an s circle divided vertically is used for 
w. When divided horizontally the halves are used for y. 
Attach brief w andjp to straight and curved stems, but do 
not use these if there is danger of confusing with the 
hooks. The stem must be used when there is an initial 
letter, as 

Awake Awoke 

Brief y is used medially and sometimes initially, as 



\r- 

Gradually Actually Utilize 



242 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

PAST TENSE OF REGULAR VERBS. 

When the present tense is written with a full length 
stem; form the past by halving that stem, as 

--br b 

Tick Ticked 

Verbs ending with an s circle take a loop for the past 
tense, as 

J- J" 

Dance Danced 

If the verb ends with a ses circle add T or D, as 

\> _^ 

Possess Possessed 

If the verb ends with an st loop change the loop to an 
s circle and add half length T, as 

— >- --->- ~~. 

Trust Trusted 

If the verb ends with a ster loop change it to a circle 
and add half length Tr, as 

Master Mastered 

If the verb ends with a double length make it single 
length and add half length Tr or Dr, as 

<T>s 09 

Mutter Muttered 

except when the final syllable is equivalent to Dher, then 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 243 

add D to the present tense, as 

r_ o...... 

Lather Lathered 

PREFIXES. 

Con, com and cum are indicated by a light dot before 
the outline 

No . 

Compress 

The above syllables, also cog are indicated in the mid- 
dle of words by a break, as 

Recommence Recognize 

Accomplish, inconsistent, circumference and words of 
similar spelling are written without the break. 

Self is expressed by the s circle on the line of writing. 
The outline may be joined or disjoined. 

. O, j_. 

Self-interest Self-defense 

SUFFIXES. 

Ble-bly are expressed by B when the / hook does not 
join easily. 



Invincible Forcible 

Bleness, fulness, etc., are expressed by Bs, Fs, etc., dis- 
joined. 



244 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 



Peaceableness Restfulness 

Ing is expressed by a light dot at the end of the out- 
line, thus: 

\„ 

Betting Mastering 

Ship is expressed by SH, joined or disjoined. 



According 
Acknowledge 
Advantage 
Advertise 

Almost 

Already 

Among 

Another 

As 

Because 

Become 

Before 

Began 

Begun 

Begin 

Belong 



"7 



r— 



V : T • 

Friendship Fellowship 

WORD SIGNS AND CONTRACTIONS. 

Come 

Correct 

Could 

Defendant 

Degree 

Describe 

Description 

Did 

Differ-ence-ent 
Difficult-y 
Distinct 

Do 

During 
Ever 

Experience 
\ First 



__V 



-l- 



--v- 



Belonged 

Business 

But 

Can 

Careful-ly 

Circumstance 

Give-n 

Had 

Has 

Have 

Having 

Here 

Hereby 

Herein 

Him 

Himself 

His 

I 

Immediate 

Importance-t 

Intelligence 

Is 

Knew 

Large 

Larger 

Largest 
Largely 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

For 

v Found 

\ From 

Gave 

c-3 _ Gentleman 

j 3 Gentlemen 

Longest 

_J Manufacture 

v ! Member 

„__V____ Mr. 
„__r^__ Never 
.___=^ — New 
rs Next 

:x>__. Now 
__._^___ Number 
.__^— Of 
Other 

o . 

Over 

_______ Own 

.________- Part 

7. Particular 

. People 

— w — Plaintiff 

Possible-y 

Practical-ly 

Principal-le 

— Probable-y 



245 



__k.- 



_y 



-.v.. 

f 

C 

- <x — 

--V- 

_A_ 

No 



246 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 



Long Public-sh 

_ <w 

Longer Refer-ence 

Regular r _,/TTl_ Think 

Remark __^1__ Truth 

Remember _"Vs United States 

Represent _^\ Usual-ly 

Send Was 

Similar Mell 

Singular Were 

--- ^y 

Spoke Special-iy ___A — _ What 

Subject „Jk___. Whatever 

That __„_L„ When 

The _____ Where 

Them ( Which 

Themselves _ £ Who 

There ._.__(____ Will 

These ._.__)_.... With 

Thing ___ ___ World 

Anything -^w- Would 

Something t __,cr-w-- Your 



V 






._.JL„ 






./.. 



—r-— 



«xi_._ 



— r- 



PHRASES. 



According to 

According to the 

According to that 

At first l> 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 247 

At all events *f 

Absolutely necessary __jC^„ 

Bill of Lading * 

In order that 

In reply to your favor .__ _ 

In reply to your letter __ v_. ___ 

In response to 

In respect to 

In receipt of your favor 

In regard to ^L 

May as well _^~C__ 

More and more ^-^ 

More than any other <r-v_^ 

Must always be ,_WTT\ 

Must be able to 

On the contrary \\^ 

On the other hand 7 

Party of the first part 
Party of the second part 

Peculiar circumstances of the case 

Per annum 

Per cent 

Under the circumstances v^_ o 

PLATE 6. TELEGRAPHY. 

This Morse Alphabet, used in the United States and 
Canada, is the original code of signals introduced by S. F. 
B. Morse in connection with his telegraph, invented in 




248 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

1832. The International Morse System, which differs 
slightly from it, is used in Europe. By later inventions 
two or four telegrams can be sent at one time, one or two 
each way, over the same wire. 

Twenty-five words per minute is the average rate of 
sending and receiving above-ground messages. Cable- 
grams travel about half as fast. 

The first telegraph line was completed May 27, 1844, 
between Baltimore and Washington; the first Atlantic 
cable July 27, 1866. To-day there are 492,573 miles of 
lines, using 1,007,196 miles of wire, and 225 ocean cables, 
measuring over 68,000 miles. 

PLATE 7. MUSIC. 

The educational and refining influence of music is 
recognized and appreciated everywhere. To the home it 
brings joy and happiness, and a knowledge of its elemen- 
tary principles at least, has become almost indispensable. 

Our plate embodies the fundamental rudiments of this 
science, and with the following rules and definitions one 
can gain much useful knowledge of it. 

A Staff consists of five parallel, horizontal lines and 
four spaces, used for writing music. 

A Degree is a line or space of the staff. 

A Clef is used to show position of the letters on the 
staff, which denote the pitch of tones. The first seven 
letters of the alphabet are used. 

The Soprano or Treble Clef represents G on the 2d 
line, the Bass Clef represents F on the 4th line and the 
Tenor Clef represents C in the 3d space. 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 249 

The tones of the scale are numbered from I to 8, and 
have syllables to correspond: Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do. 

An Octave is the 8th tone in the scale; the interval 
between I and 8 of the scale; or any interval of equal 
length. 

A Scale is the graduated series of tones ascending and 
descending to the keynote from its octave, also called 
Gamut. 

The Diatonic Scale consists of 8 sounds and 7 intervals, 
of which 2 are semi-tones and 5 are whole tones. The 
semi-tones or half-step intervals are between 3 and 4 and 
7 and 8. These are called minor seconds. Whole steps 
or intervals are called major seconds. 

A Sharp before a note raises it one-half step. 

A flat before a note lowers it one-half step. 

A Natural before a note cancels the effect of the sharp 
or flat. 

Accidentals are the sharps, flats and naturals which are 
introduced for temporary effect. 

The Key of a piece of music is determined from the 
key-tone. When the key-tone is C the tune is in the key 
of C. When the key-tone is G the tune is in the key of 
G, etc. 

To find the key-tone: When there is neither sharp nor 
flat the key-tone (Do) is on C. 

With sharps, the key-tone (Do) is on the next degree 
above the sharp, or above the last sharp when more than 
one is used. 



250 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

With flats the syllable Fa is always on the line or space 
of the last flat. 

A Musical Sound is called a Tone. Tones have three 
properties: Length, Pitch and Force. 

Notes indicate the relative length of tones, and rests 
the corresponding periods of silence. 

A Measure is the space between two bars. 

A Bar shows the end of a meas.ure. 

A Double Bar shows the end of a strain or line of 
poetry. 

A Close indicates the end of a musical composition. 

A Repeat shows that the passage preceding should be 
repeated. If only a part of the passage is to be repeated, 
dots at the right hand of a bar show that all which appears 
between the two sets of dots is to be repeated. 

D. C. indicates that you should return to the begin- 
ning. D. S. return to the sign. 

A Pause or Hold shows that the tone should be pro- 
longed 

Staccato Marks indicate short, distinct tones. 

A Crescendo shows that the volume of sound should 
be increased gradually. 

A Diminuendo shows that the volume of sound should 
be gradually diminished. 

A Swell indicates increase and then decrease of sound. 

A Tie connects two notes on the same degree. 

A Slur connects two notes on different degrees. 

A dot placed after a note adds one-half to its value; 
thus a dotted half note equals three quarter notes, a dotted 
fourth note equals three eighth notes, etc. 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 25 1 

The figures at beginning of a musical composition indi- 
cate the movement. The upper figure denotes the num- 
ber of pulsations in a measure, and the lower figure into 
how many parts the whole note is divided and the kind of 
note for each pulse of the measure. Double Time has two 
motions or pulsations and two beats to the measure, viz., 
Down, Up; Triple Time has three pulsations to each 
measure and three beats, Down, Left, Up, Quadruple 
Time four pulsations and four beats, Down, Left, Right, 
Up. Sextuple Time for convenience is treated as double 
time; Compound Triple Time should be beat like triple 
time; Compound Quadruple Time should be beat like 
quadruple time. 

PLATE 8 — DRAWING. 

The primary forms of drawing are straight lines and 
curves. These form the basis of all drawing. We give 
examples in the first part of plate 8. Directly following 
are easy combinations of straight and curved lines into 
geometrical forms. The geometrical figures, presenting 
to the eye the combination of the object and its name, 
also furnish easy object lessons. 

The latter part of the same plate extends the object 
method of teaching by connecting simple natural objects 
and easy mechanical designs with their names in script 
and print. 

plate 9. 

Plate 9 is made up of more difficult examples, and 
brings together objects and phrases. The last half of 



252 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 



this plate associates two or more objects with full sen- 
tences. 

plate 10. 

Plate 10 shows natural and artificial objects in yet 
more complex combinations as seen every day in outdoor 
life. The right hand division of this plate represents the 
beginning of constructive work, when the child has 
already learned to draw different objects and should be 
able as indicated, to fill in and complete the picture. 




PLATE II — COMIC DRAWING. 

The Board of Education, This picture tells its own 
story. The boy has evidently thrown a stone through 
the window, and the mother believes in a " board of edu- 
cation. " "Fun for the pup" shows what laughable 
results a few changes in lines will produce. Cartoon 
work like this is in great demand, and good positions are 
always open to one who can draw a taking picture of 
this kind. 

PLATE 12 — FARM IMPLEMENTS. 

This plate is valuable as showing to the child the cor- 
rect construction of different farm implements, and the 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 253 

adjustment of their different parts. It is also valuable in 
interesting the child in mechanical design. In the train- 
ing of children we do well to bear in mind that from such 
small beginnings the greatest results have often followed. 
This is strikingly true in reference to the development of 
some of our great farm implement manufactories, the his- 
tory of which reads almost like romance. 

A characteristic example is that of the Studebaker 
Manufacturing Company of South Bend, Indiana, whose 
President, the Hon. Clem Studebaker, is also President of 
Chautauqua, the great school of popular home education. 
This great institution began its enterprises in a very mod- 
est way; yet its growth has been so great that it now has 
large repositories in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, 
Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City, Denver and Kansas 
City, Missouri, with over 5,000 distributing agencies in 
the United States and large distributing depots in every 
civilized country of the world. 

In 1852 the Hon. Clem Studebaker, with his brother 
Henry, started a blacksmith shop in South Bend. This 
was the foundation of the great Studebaker plant. Sixty- 
eight dollars ($68.00) and a few tools was their only capi- 
tal. During the first year but two wagons were made, one 
of which is said to be still in use. 

Naturally the growth of the business was at first slow. 
A contract for army wagons for the United States Gov- 
ernment in 1864 gave them their first important start. In 
the meantime they associated with them their younger 
brothers, John Mohler (now first vice-president) , Peter E 



254 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

and Jacob F., and with renewed energy and full of ambi- 
tion strove steadily forward. In 1868 they took out a 
charter as a Stock Company. Twice fire swept away their 
all. The ruins were yet smoking when new and more 
extensive walls began to rise. From far and near came 
the demands for Studebaker vehicles. The output has 
increased from two wagons in 1852 to about 100,000 
vehicles in 1899, among which is included everything 
from a farm wagon to the President's State Carriage. 

The Studebaker's manufacturing plant covers 100 
acres, and its lumber sheds contain over 60,000,000 feet 
of hardwood lumber. Over 2,500 men are now employed 
at the South Bend plant alone, and the vehicles from 
this great manufactory are sent to almost every corner of 
the civilized world. 

This is only one of many great American enterprises 
that, beginning in a small way, have through hard, per- 
sistent work, and honest, conscientious efforts, grown to 
be great factors in the world's industrial history. Mr. 
Clem. Studebaker, who stands at the head both of this 
great manufacturing industry and of Chautauqua, the 
great popular school of home education, sends a word of 
encouragement to all the boys and girls who shall read 
this. He says: 

11 Study your lessons dilligently; be honest, truthful, 
faithful, persistent and energetic, and success will surely 
crown your efforts." 

PLATE 13 — EVOLUTION OF THE PLOW. 

Many volumes might be written upon the evolution of 
this wonderfully useful implement. Here we can only 
picture to the eye a few styles of the plow used at differ- 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 255 

ent periods in the process of its development. The 
Scottish " 17th Century plow" is similar in general out- 
line to our "Wood Beam Plow," but less perfect in opera- 
tion. The "Sulky Plow " is still a later development and 
may be constructed to turn two or more furrows at the 
same time. How many of our boys and girls have seen 
a Steam Plow, which is the present highest development 
of this implement? It is in use upon our western prairies 
and can only be operated to advantage where land is rea- 
sonably level and the field large. Notice that the one 
here shown turns five furrows at the same time. 

PLATE 14 — TRANSPORTATION. 

This plate shows different steps in the progress of 
transportation. In No. I we see the primitive woman 
carrying her child upon her back as she gathers brush- 
wood for a fire. No. 2 is the ox cart still in use in India. 
No. 3, the Sedan Chair, often made in very rich elaborate 
designs and of most costly wood, was chiefly used in 
France and England by the nobility and the very wealthy, 
but is still used in some Eastern countries. No. 4 pictures 
an English farmer and wife enjoying their trip to market. 
This style of carriage is still used in England. No. 5 rep- 
resents the Automobile, now coming into quite general 
use in the cities. The motive power of the Automobile 
is electricity, gasoline or compressed air. Later on we 
will find another example of progress in transportation: 
The " Empire State Express." 

PLATE 15. PORTRAITS. 

Draw first the oval, which is the general outline of the 
head, no matter in what position shown. A horizontal 



256 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

line dividing the oval equally locates the eye. A second 
line dividing the lower half of the oval determines the 
lower extremity of the nose. These horizontal lines 
describe curves on the oval when the head is thrown for- 
ward or back, which can be illustrated by drawing hori- 
zontal lines on an egg and turning it in different posi- 
tions. The eyes, nose, ears, etc., follow these lines in 
whatever position the head is shown. To denote pleasure, 
sorrow, etc., draw the lines for the eyes and mouth up or 
down, as shown by cuts four and five on the Portrait Plate. 
To illustrate how much the expression of the human 




countenance depends upon a simple turn of these lines 
place in an oval four horizontal lines for the eyes, nose 
and mouth (see cut herewith), then curve them up or 
down and note the effect. Practice carefully on the sepa- 
rate features in different positions, and the combinations 
of lips and chin, eye and nose, as shown on scroll, before 
attempting one of the entire portraits. Observe there is 
the same distance between hair and eyes as between nose 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 



257 



and eyes, and about the length of an eye between the 
eyes. Locate carefully the lines descending from the 
nose to the lips. 

In drawing these portraits first sketch lightly the out- 
lines, observing the right proportions, etc., then finish. 





(See cut.) In portraits, study the character of the head — 
what impresses you first, and most — and compare the 
heads of Gladstone, Washington and others with one- 
another, and with the heads of people you know. When 
you can draw the completed portraits, try one from life. 

PLATE l6 — CARTOONS. 

Lost Time is Never Regained. This cartoon tells. the 
story of many a failure. It pictures one of the boys who 
is always a little behind-hand. He slept late this morn- 
ing, was late for breakfast, and here we see him late for 
school. Fleet-footed time is always ahead of him. He 
cannot regain time he has lost. 

At the right in this plate is a genuine farm scene. In 
attempting to force the calf to drink the boy gets spat- 
tered with the milk, much to the amusement of his father, 
brothers and sister. 



258 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

PLATE 17 — NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN BRIDGE. 

This suspension bridge over the East River between 
New York City and Brooklyn (now Greater New York) 
is one of the mechanical wonders of the world, and a mon- 
ument to our age. It was begun in 1870 and finished in 
1883 a t a cos t °f $15,000,000. Total cost of the bridge to 
Dec. 1, 1897, about $21,000,000. Chief Engineer of Con- 
struction, W. A. Roebling. Total length of carriage drive, 
5,989 feet; width, 85 feet; height of towers above high water 
mark, 278 feet; weight, 17,780 tons; number of cables, 4; 
diameter of each cable, 15% inches; length of each single 
wire in cables, 3,578 feet 6 inches; ultimate strength of 
each cable, 12,000 tons; weight of wire, 12 feet per pound; 
each table contains 5,296 parallel (not twisted) galvan- 
ized steel, oil-coated wires, closely wrapped to a solid 
cylinder 15% inches in diameter. 

PLATE l8 — THE EMPIRE STATE EXPRESS. 

The Empire State Express of the New York Central 
and Hudson River Railroad is the. fastest regular, long- 
distance train in the world. It is equipped with special 
cars and the finest engines. Its scheduled time is 52^ 
miles per hour for the entire distance from New York to 
Buffalo. Only four stops are made in 436^ miles. On 
May nth, 1893, it made the fastest time on record — one 
mile in 32 seconds, being equivalent to 112^ miles per 
hour. Another fast record was made by this train on 
September nth, 1895, when, from New York to Buffalo, 
it maintained an average speed of 64.33 miles per hour, 
including stops. 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIOxNS. 259 

Our picture is from a photograph of this train drawn 
by the famous locomotive 999, which made the wonderful 
record in '93 and was on exhibition at the World's Fair. 

This picture was taken when the train was running at 
the rate of 64 miles per hour. A trip down the Mohawk 
Valley on this splendid train upon a summer afternoon 
will never be forgotten. 

The superiority of American-made locomotives is 
everywhere recognized. We not only supply them for 
use on our own railroads, but are exporting them for use 
in England and Germany, the great iron manufacturing 
countries .of Europe, and even sending them into China 
and Siberia, where they will help to introduce Western 
ideas of civilization. 

PLATE 19 — LINEAR PERSPECTIVE. 

Parallel lines far enough extended seem to converge 
until they meet. Scarcely a picture can be drawn without 
embodying in it the principles of linear perspective. Per- 
spective represents objects as they appear instead of as 
they really are. First draw the horizon line as in the 
plate. This line is always relative to one's position. It 
passes through the eye and finds its terminus in either 
direction at the point where the earth and sky seem to 
meet. When objects are located above the line, we speak 
of them as above the horizon. All horizontal lines run 
toward the vanishing point, and if far enough extended 
will meet it. See in the cut the parallel lines of railway 
tracks, fences, telegraph wires, etc. In the right hand of 



260 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

plate is an illustration of interior perspective; note how 
all the parallel lines on the right side of the corner in 
this interior illustration converge toward the vanishing 
point at the left, and all parallel lines in the left half of 
the same picture converge toward the vanishing point to 
the right. Illustrations of interior perspective as well as 
exterior can be seen in almost all pictures correctly drawn. 

PLATE 20 — FARM ARCHITECTURE. 

How to build a house that shall combine convenience 
and homelikeness with economy, is an important problem. 
Plate No. 20 shows the ground floor plan, the front eleva- 
tion and the perspective of such a home. Drawing of this 
kind is usually done upon drawing paper with a sharp 
pencil, ruler, etc. After the pencil drawing is completed, 
go over the lines with good black ink to bring them out 
more sharply. 

The location of the house is important. It should be 
high and dry, with the land sloping away from the house 
to insure good drainage. The foundations should be sub- 
stantially laid in cement or mortar. The footing course 
should project at least six inches on either side the foun- 
dation to prevent rats from burrowing under the foun- 
dation and entering the house from the outside. The 
cellar should be carefully drained by tile leading from the 
lowest point down the incline away from the house. 
Interior partitions should not be supported upon piers, 
but upon 8 to io inch walls. The floor beams should be 
at least 2 x io inches, as lighter ones will result in constant 
vibration. 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 26l 

PLATE 21 — PRIMARY COLORS, ETC. 

There are three primary colors — Yellow, Red and 
Blue — as they cannot be obtained by the mixture of any 
other colors; hence they are rightly called primary or 
fundamental colors. All other existing colors are combi- 
nations of a certain shade of either two or three primary 
colors. Colors obtained by the mixture of any two pri- 
mary colors are called secondary colors — Orange, Green 
and Purple. Note that Yellow overlapping Red forms 
Orange, Yellow over Blue forms Green, and Red over 
Blue forms Purple. A combination of all three primary 
colors in their solid form produces Black, as shown. 

The section of rainbow shows the prismatic spectrum, 
which consists of seven colors. A ray of solar light is 
separated into these colors by passing through a prism. 
These colors are Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, 
Orange and Red. Their order and names can be remem- 
bered by the word vibgyor. Observe they consist of the 
Primary and Secondary colors, and Indigo, which is so 
nearly like Blue it is not generally considered a separate 
color. 

At the right of this plate we show the shading and 
blending of colors. Notice how these overlap and form 
new ones, how they blend by addition of White, and how 
all intermediate shades and tints are thus produced. For 
instance, the Yellows fade into Cream color, the Reds 
into Pinks, etc., and the Black into Grays. 



262 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

PLATE 22. 
Here are the flags of the principal nations with their 
colors and designs. These not only show beautiful color 
effects from combination, but offer the best means of 
inspiring patriotism in the minds of children. 

PLATE 23, 

This plate illustrates very clearly the steps in the 
process of color-development. The work is first out- 
lined by pencil in black and white. Next the natural 
colors are laid on less deep than in the real objects, to 
bring out the effect as in the central design. Finally the 
picture is completed by adding stronger colors to produce 
the real color effects of nature. 

plate 24. 
The upper division of this plate represents different 
steps in one oi the most curious and interesting pro- 
cesses of nature. Any child in the country can study 
it in the spring in real life. Note in the cut the appear- 
ance of the eggs of the moth, many times magnified. In 
the spring these eggs are found upon the branches of 
little trees and shrubbery. Watch them! In a little time 
the caterpillar will make its appearance and begin almost 
at once its attack upon the tender foliage. After some 
weeks comes another stage of development which may 
also be watched and followed — the spinning of the 
cocoon. I See chapter on " Tent-makers and their Tents." 
When the caterpillar has constructed the cocoon about 
itself, one might think its life at an end. But watch a few 



COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 263 

weeks more and we will see emerge a new form of life, 
more beautiful than before — the moth or butterfly. 

In the lower half of this plate is shown the develop- 
ment of the wheat-head from the kernel. Note the 
appearance of the grain of wheat at maturity, both in its 
natural size and magnified. Most everyone has watched 
the sprouting of a seed or kernel as shown in the next 
cut. If you have not, put a kernel of wheat or corn in 
water and set in the sunlight. In a few days you will see 
the little sprouts shoot out as in the picture. One part 
pushing upward through the soil becomes the stem, and 
puts forth its leaves; another part working downward 
forms the root, furnishing stability to the plant and taking 
up from the soil elements that make it grow. The ''stem'' 
pushes its way upward and draws from sun and air other 
necessary elements which it can obtain from no other 
source. Then the stem puts forth its " first leaves." We 
see also at the right hand, the internal structure of the 
wheat kernel magnified many times. Note the several 
different layers, the lower and principal one (e) being 
the meat of the kernel and the upper one (a) the outer 
stem. [See chapter "How the Squash Plant gets out of 
Prison."] 

PLATE 25. 

This plate presents an interesting study in birds, 
showing them in their natural colors and character- 
istic positions. P>ery child should cultivate a love for 
birds, with whose music, more beautiful than harp or any 
instrument, God has filled the fields and woods. [See 
chapter "Our Feathered Friends."] 



264 COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS. 

PLATE 26. 

All children, especially those upon the farm, ought 
to have well in mind the requirements for perfect 
domestic animals, so as to know really valuable animals 
from defective ones. In this plate we have pictures 
of farm animals drawn expressly for " Chautauqua " 
by one of our best animal painters, Geo. Ford Morris. 

plate 27. 
Here is an ideal farm scene. The buildings are 
attractive and in good repair; the grounds are well 
laid out and ornamented with trees and shrubbery. The 
fences are in good condition; the horses, cattle and sheep 
are well fed and the farm itself is fertile and productive. 
Everything presents the appearance of thrift and enter- 
prise. 

general suggestions. 

Hooks for putting up the Desk will be found in the 
envelope in one of the pockets. 

Be sure to put it up at once. Don't allow it to be used 
until securely fastened in its proper place. 

Keep closed when not in use, thus protecting the copy 
sheet and avoiding accidents. 

Use only soft slate pencils upon the drawing board. 
We furnish the talc pencils like those supplied with each 
Desk, at 25 cents per dozen, postage paid. 

Erase with a dry cloth. 

Never, under any circumstances, put water upon the 
drawing board. 

Clean it occasionally with a very little kerosene oil or 
diluted vinegar. 



OUTLINE INDEX BY CHAPTERS. 



The Farm and the Farmer Page 15 

Soil Weeds Birds 

Climate Green Crops Books 

Preparation of the Soil Page 20 

Plowing The Harrow Lumpy Land 

Plowing Wet Land Spike Harrow Spring Crops 

Plowing Dry Land Disc Harrow Falll Plowing 

Soil Exhaustion Page 26 

Fertile Land Forests Exhaustion of Soil 

Sterile Land Plant Food 

Restoring Fertility Page 30 

Run-down Land Nitrogen Nitrate of Soda 

Phosphoric Acid Ammonia Stable Manure 

Potash Fertilizer Testing Fertilizers 

Maintaining Fertility Page 45 

Nitrogen Rotation of Crops Mixed Farming 

Phosphoric Acid Clover 

Potash Manurial Value of Feed Stuffs 

Potash in Agriculture Page 55 

Plant Food Best Form to Use Clover 

Wood Ashes How Much to use 

Simple Plan of Keeping Farm Books Page 66 

The Garden Page 69 

Rhubarb Shape Tomatoes 

Asparagus Onions Potatoes 

Reference Table Radishes Peas 

Location Beets Cabbage 

Exposure Corn 

Manure Lima Beans 

Home of Plants, with Botanical Names Page 78 

Fruit Growing Page 82 

" Soil ( Blight 

Planting Trees Pears j Dwarf 

The Tree Peddler ( Varieties 

Commercial Orchard ( Exposure of Orchard 

v Family Orchard Plums ] Planting 

? Commercial Orchard ( Curculio 

Peaches j Varieties 

( Hardy Varieties 

A Cheap Barn Page 95 

Built up Timbers General Construction 

Feeding Live Stock Page 98 

Clover Hay Oats Compounding of Rations 

Wheat Straw Principals of Feeding Feeding Standards 
Corn Composition of Food Valuable Tables 

Materials 

Economical Feeding Page 126 

Protein Carbo-hydrates Value of Balanced Ration 



Apples 



11 OUTLINE INDEX BY CHAPTERS. 

Dairying in a Nutshell Page 131 

Selection and Breeding Butter-Making 

Care and 'Feed Cheese-Making 

Milking 140 Points on Management of Dairy 

Care of Milk 
Valuable Tables Page 144 

Number of Gallons in Circular Tank and Wells 

Legal and Standard Measures of the Various States 

Miscellaneous Legal Weights per Bushel 

Miscellaneous Legal Sizes 

Average Full Yield per Acre of Various Crops Page 149 

Live Stock Page 151 

Effect of Live Stock on the Farm Horses, Breeding of 

Sheep Coach and Driving Horses 

Cattle Bus Horses 

Hogs Draft Horses 

Pure-bred Stock Goats, Angora 

Beef Cattle 
Poultry Breeding Page 162 

Pure-bred Poultry Breeds of Turkeys 

Breeds of Chickens Proper Food 

Breeds of Ducks Lice 

Breeds of Geese How Long a Hen is Profitable 
Silos and Silage Page 169 

How to Construct Staves Details of Construction 

Foundation Hoops Cost of Silo 
Fruit Growing — Berries Page 177 

Strawberries Blackberries Gooseberries 

Raspberries Currents Grapes 
Sayings of Successful Farmers Page 190 

The American Hog 

No Live Stock, no Fertility 

A Farmer's Orchard 

Farming Pays 

Gov. Mount's Story 

The Value of Small Things 

Medicinal Properties of Fruits and Vegetables 

The New Farmer 
Nature Study Department Page 196 

Home Training 

What is Nature's Study? 

A Bug Catcher and His Life History 

How a Squash Plant gets out of Prison 

Some Tent Makers and Their Tents 

Our Feathered Friends 

How the Trees Look in Winter 

Suggestions for Drawing Trees in their Winter Aspects 
Home Making Page 225 

The Flower Garden Kinds of Annuals 

Plants for Screens Preparation of the Soil 

Complete Instruction How to Use the Chautauqua Industrial 

Art Desk Page 228 






ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 



Ash 102 

Asparagus 69 

Apple-tree Worms 206-208 

Apple-tree Worms, How to Destroy 207 

Barn, A Cheap 95 

Berries 177 

Birds 209-2 1 5 

Blackberries 183 

Bone Black 35 

Bone Meal ." 35 

Book-keeping, Simple Plan of. 66-67 

Breeds, The Battle of 156 

Breeding Live Stock 155 

Buckwheat Middlings 124 

Butter Making 138 

Cabbage j6 

Carbohydrates 103-106 

Care of Milk 137 

Castor Pomace 35 

Cheese Making 140 

Cherries 90-94 

Climate 15 

Clover .40-47-48-98 

Clover, Plowing Under 40 

Corn 98 

Cotton Seed Meal 35 

Cow Peas .'.'.' 40 

Crops 17 

Curculio 91 

Currants 186-189 

Dairying, in a Nutshell 131 

Drawings, How to Test 223-224 

Dried Blood 35 

Ducks 165 

Farm Books 66-67 

Farm and the Farmer 15 

Farmer, The New 195 

Fats 102 

Feeding, Economical 126 

Feeding Live Stock 98 

Feeding, Principals of 101 

Feeding Standards 106 

Feeding Standards, Tables 108-109 

Fertile Land 26 

Fertility, Nature Works to Maintain 27 

i 



11 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 

Fertility of the Soil 26 

Fertility, Restoring 30 

Fertility Value of a Ton of Corn 50 

Fertilizers 31 

Fertilizers, Commercial 41 

Fertilizer, Complete '. 33 

Fertilizers, Consumed by Various Crops 43 

Fertilizers, How to Experiment with 41 

Fertilizing Materials, Composition of 37 

Fertilizer, Special _ 34 

Fish Scrap 35 

Food Materials, Composition of 102 

Forests, Effect of 27 

Freshly Plowed Land, Preparation of 23 

Frost, Effect of, on Plowed Land 24 

Fruit Growing 177 

Fruit Growing, Apples 82 

Fruit Growing, Berries 177 

Fruits, Medicinal Properties of 194 

Garden, The 69 

Garden, Best Exposure of 72 

Garden, Location of 72 

Garden, Planting the 74 

Garden, Shape of , 73 

Geese 165 

Goats, Angora 160 

Gooseberries 186-189 

Grapes 1 86- 1 89 

Green Manure 39 

Guano 35 

Harrow, The 23 

Harrow, Disc 23 

Harrow, Spike 23 

Hogs 158 

Hog, The American 190 

Home Making 225-227 

Horses, Breeding of 159 

Horses, Trotting or Running 1 59 

Horses, Coach and Driving 160 

Horses, Cab 160 

Horses, Bus 160 

Horses, Draft 160 

Leguminous Plants 34 

Lice 167 

Lime, Deficiency of in Soil 46 

Live Stock 151 

Lumpy Land 24 

Maintaining Fertility 45 

Manurial Value of Farming Products 32 

Manurial Value of Feed Stuffs 49 

Measures, Legal and Standard 145 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Ill 

Measures, Miscellaneous Legal Sizes 146-150 

Milking -. 135 

Mixed Farming 51 

Nature Study 198 

Nitrate of Soda 35 

Nitrogen 31 -33-34-46 

Nutritive Ratio 105 

Nutritive Value of Common Feeding Stuffs 11 1-122 

Oats 98 

Orchard, A Farmer's 191 

Orchard, Commercial 84-85 

Orchard, Family 84 

Peaches 90 

Peach Orchard 85 

Pears 87 

Pear Blight 87 

Pears, Dwarf . . . ; 89 

Phosphate Rock 35 

Phosphoric Acid 3 1 -33-35-46-63 

Phosphoric Acid, where found 36 

Plants, Home of y?- 

Plow, The 21 

Plowing, Deep. ... ; 22 

Plowing, Dry Land 22 

Plowing, Effect on Spring Crops 24 

Plowing, Fall 24 

Plowing, in Spring 24 

Plowing Under Green Crops 16 

Plowing, Wet Land 22 

Plums 90 

Plums, Curculio 91 

Potash 31 -33-34-37-46 

Potash as Plant Food 57 

Potash, Best Form to use 59 

Potash, Forms of, as Fertilizers 55 

Potash and Clover 64 

Potash, How much to use 61 

Potash in Agriculture 55 

Potash, Other uses of 64 

Potatoes 37 

Poultry Breeding 162 

Poultry, Feed for 166 

Poultry Nomenclature 164 

Pure-bred Poultry. 162 

Poultry, Varieties of 163 

Prairies 26 

Preparation of the Soil 20 

Protein 103-106 

Rain Water, effect of, on Soil 31 

Raspberries 183-185 

Ration, Compounding of 105 



JUN 16 1900 

1 COPY DEL TO CAT. DIV. 

IV DEC. 14 ]90t ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 

Rhubarb 69 

Roller, Land 24 

Rotation of Crops 47-52 

Sayings of Successful Farmers 190 

Seeds 70 

Selection and Breeding 131 

Sheep 156-157 

Silos and Silage 169-176 

Small Things, Value of 193 

Soil 15 

Soil Exhaustion 26 

Soil Exhaustion, Causes of 27 

Soil, Mechanical Condition of 33 

Soy Beans 40 

Squash Plant, Study of 203-205 

Stable Manure 39 

Sterile Land 26 

Sterile Land, Improvement of 27 

Strawberries 178-183 

Strawberries, Ripen or Develop Uneven 59 

Sugar Beets, Low Percentage of Sugar 59 

Sugar Beets 37 

Sulphate of Ammonia 35 

Swine 1 58 

Table of Reference — Vegetable Seeds 70-71 

Tables, number gallons in circular tank 144 

Tankage 35 

Toad, The 199-202 

Tobacco 37 

Tobacco Stems 35 

Trees in Winter 216-217 

Trees in Winter, How to Draw 218-223 

Turkeys , 165 

Vegetables, Dates for Sowing Seeds 70 

Vegetables, Medicinal Properties of 194 

Water 102 

Weights, Legal, per bushel 146 

Wood Ashes 57 




SUCCESSFUL $& { 
FARMING 



SUCCESSFUL FARMERS 




ILLUSTRATED 




POWERS,HIGLEY SCO- 
CHICAGO 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 

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Forwarded to Order Division _ J*A R _ M __!?_9. 3 .__- 

(Date) 
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